"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel fo
every creature." - Mark 16:15
So God had been teaching me. In fact, He had been
teaching me a lot. At this point I had learned some
very practical things about living the Christian
life...
...but God wasn't finished yet.
The fourth plague that came into my life really got my
attention. It wasn't so much the severity of the
plague, but rather the all important message that I
received from the plague.
I didn't have any money at this point in my life.
Things were really tight and times were hard on me. I
didn't have many clothes either. In fact, everything
that I owned could be put in one load of laundry. I
had just enough shirts that I could wear a different
one each day of the work week. Laundry was fairly
easy. :-)
One day I was doing my laundry when something terrible
happened. I accidentally left an ink pen in the pocket
of a pair of pants. IT SEEMED LIKE AN ETERNITY as I
stood there with tears streaming down my face as I
looked at every stitch of clothing that I owned covered
in ink stains. All of them were ruined, nothing was
spared.
Brothers and sisters, let me tell you, it hurt. I
broke down right there in my grandmother's utility
room. I had been having a miserable time anyway,
everything seemed to be going the wrong way...and now
this. All of my clothes were ruined. I cannot
describe just how totally depleted I felt that day. It
was certainly a very low point in my life.
I tried everything I knew to try in order to remove
those stains. I scrubbed until my fingers were rubbed
raw. I used every stain remover that I could find. I
labored for hours over those clothes. I tried
everything that I possibly could try to get those
stains out. But nothing worked.
There was nothing I could do. I picked out the best
ones and that's what I wore until my next paycheck.
And you know what? Even though it hurt me, even though
it embarassed me to wear those stain covered clothes to
work and to the grocery store and everywhere I went...
...I wouldn't change it if I could.
You see, God taught me one of the most important truths
that a person can ever learn. It's a truth I am going
to share with you and, in turn, I hope you share it
with others. That simple truth is this...
...Only Jesus can get the stains out.
See, a sinner can try everything he knows to do, but
he'll never be able to get them out. He can try to be
a good moral person, attend church, do good works, try
everything he knows to try, but when God looks at him,
He sees him as a person who is still wearing spiritual
clothing with ink stains on them.
Only Jesus can get the stains out.
And guess what? You and I are supposed to share that
simple truth with others. In Mark's Gospel Jesus tells
us to "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature."
And the gospel is simple: "You can't get the stains
out...
...but Jesus can."