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 The
old chicken coop didn’t last long between white-washin’s —
one was hardly finished and it was time for another. It always
looked so clean after each job that it was hard to imagine that
those gathering eggs were met with such a stench. No matter how
much white-wash you put on, it didn’t seem to improve the
smell on the inside of the coop.
After
awhile the filth got so bad that someone (never me) would
suggest that it was time to clean and disinfect the inside. It
sure smelled a lot better after that. But believe me when I say
that it’s much more pleasant to white-wash two chicken coops
than to clean out one.
Of
course, white-washin’ is nothing new. The Pharisees garnished
the tombs of the fathers to make them appear beautiful but there
were dead men’s bones inside. They meticulously cleansed the
outside of the cup and platter but this did not remove the
inside stains (Matt. 23:24—27). Our Lord was not condemning
the whitewashing of sepulchers nor was he teaching a lesson here
on how to wash dishes. He said, “Even so ye also outwardly
appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy
and iniquity,” Matt. 23:28), and they understood that he spoke
of outward religion (white-washin’) as opposed to inner
cleanliness of heart.
It
is never easy to cleanse one’s heart of sin but sometimes the
smell becomes so odious that we can no longer cover it up. The
more David white-washed to cover his sin, the more sin there was
to cover — first adultery then deception and finally murder.
Admitting his sin was humiliating and
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painful, but far better
this than plunging white- washed into eternity where the
paint job peels.
Pity
poor Saul. God said for Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites,
but Saul and the people spared Agag, the best of the sheep,
oxen, and all that was good. Saul said to Samuel, “I have
performed the commandment of Jehovah,” (1 Sam. 15:13b), but
his paint began to run when the oxen lowed in Samuel’s ears.
He thought he could blame the people but Samuel applied God’s
paint remover — “to obey is better than sacrifice, and to
hearken than the fat of rams.” (v.22)
Many
souls today are filled with extortion, excess, murder theft,
adultery, etc., and each new day demands more
self-justification, excuses, and rationaliz- ations to hide the
sins — at least from one’s own eyes But there is not enough
white-wash in the world to cover ONE sin. The only hope for the
cleansing from sin is through the blood of Christ (Matt. 26:28;
1 Jno. 1:7). It was not easy for him to die on the cross and it
may not be easy for Christians to repent and confess sins, but
that’s what it takes to cleanse the inside (1 Jno. 1:9; Acts
8:22).
The
cleansed conscience and restored relationship are much better
than self-justification. I liked the clean chicken coop much
better than the white-washed one too — after it was all over.
Jim
R. Everett -118 Sage St. Lake Jackson, Texas.
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