FEBRUARY 22, 1 John 1:7

Holding his dirty, greasy hands high in front of him, Dad went into the kitchen. “Please turn on the tap for me, Eric,” he said. “I don’t want to touch anything.”

“Wow!” exclaimed Eric, quickly turning on the water. “How did you get your hands so dirty?”

“I’ve been working on the car,” replied Dad. Eric shook his head. “You’ll never get those hands clean,” he declared. “Sure I will,” said Dad, “but not with regular soap. There’s some special hand cleaner under the sink. It’s made for removing grease and oil.”

Eric reached under the sink and pulled out the can of hand cleaner. Dad sank his fingers into the goo and rubbed it over his hands. He worked it in well, scrubbing between his fingers and around the nails with a soft brush. When he had finished, he rinsed his hands under the warm water. “What do you think?” asked Dad. He held up his hands for Eric’s inspection.

“Awesome!” exclaimed Eric. “That’s amazing! Those were the dirtiest hands I’ve ever seen! I can’t believe you got them so clean!” Dad grinned as he dried his hands.

That evening, Dad and Eric listened to a news report about a prisoner who said he had turned his life over to Christ and was now totally changed. Eric turned to Dad. “Did you hear all the awful things that guy did?” asked Eric. “He can’t just say he’s sorry and be forgiven after doing all those horrible things, can he?”

“If he really is sorry for his sin and has put his trust in Jesus, God has forgiven him,” Dad replied. “Jesus shed His blood on the cross for our sins, and that blood is powerful enough to cleanse even the most sinful of souls.”

“So if a person truly repents and trusts Jesus, God will forgive him no matter what he’s done, right?” asked Eric.

Dad nodded and held up his hands. “The blood of Jesus is far more powerful than the cleanser I used on my hands,” he said. “Jesus’ blood truly is an awesome, amazing detergent!”

Thought: Have I confessed my sin and used the best “detergent”?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please remind me I must go to You daily to be washed and cleansed. Sometimes I may think what I’ve done wrong is not very bad and shouldn’t even be called sin. Remind me all sin is terrible in Your sight, and that I must confess and have it washed away. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.