Crystal Clear

Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. Psalm 51:2

One day I pulled a crystal glass out of my dishwasher and went to fill it with water. I was so thirsty; I had been exercising, and my throat was dry. I filled it to the brim with crystal-clear drinking water from the refrigerator and lifted it to my lips. Just as I was about to take a big refreshing gulp, I spotted food particles crusted on the inside of the glass. I tossed the water down the drain and went for a clean glass.

I had just been reading 2 Timothy in my quiet time, and I immediately remembered this passage: “If you keep yourself pure, you will be a utensil God can use for his purpose. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:21).

I thought long and hard about that glass. Now years later, when I am tempted to sin and I want to harbor it, keep the sin secret, or justify it, I remember the glass.

Sin is like that. Jesus was so serious about dealing with sin that he said that if part of our body causes us to sin, we should cut it off or gouge it out. A part of our body gone is better than going to hell (Matthew 5:29-30). Sin makes us dirty, and Jesus calls us to get rid of it in no uncertain terms.

If I drink from a glass with debris in it, I am repulsed, sick to my stomach. So I ask myself, When I see sin in myself, do I feel the same way?

I’m not trying to live in condemnation, but rather I want to clean the glass and become beautiful crystal again!