All Purpose Stain Remover

​I’m pretty skeptical about infomercials, especially of the ones that are showcasing a new All-Purpose cleaner. They always show a ‘before’ image of a white t-shirt with a red wine stain on it and then the ‘after’ image of a now spotless t-shirt. I always think to myself, “there’s just no way that it works that good.”
 
When I think of stains, I’m reminded of a time when I was a teenager; my cousin Mandi was over and we were sitting at the table painting our nails. My parents had just recently re-carpeted the first floor of our home, which included the dining room where we were sitting. I’m not sure how it happened, but we managed to spill a drop of blue nail polish right onto the brand new mauve carpeting.
 
Oh boy, were we going to be in trouble! We panicked and all that we could think about was how we could get rid of that stain before my mom saw what we had done. In all of our youthful ignorance, we decided “duh, nail polish remover.” (I’m sure that you can guess how that turned out.) By the time that my mom got home, all that Mandi and I could do was beg for mercy, because what had started as just a small spot of polish, had grown into a colossal patch of discolored carpet. The more that we tried to scrub it out, the bigger the stain became.
 
We do foolish things out of fear! Perhaps that’s why God reminds us repeatedly in His word to not be afraid. As teenage girls, Mandi and I were scared of being punished and as a result, we worked really hard to avoid it. In the end, much like our attempted righteous works before God, our efforts were not enough to clean up the mess that we had made.
 
Eventually my mom came home and in her best efforts, she tried to repair what we had done, but after a while, she conceded to the irreversibility of the stain and just put a rug over it. The stain was covered up, but it wasn’t gone. If that rug ever gets moved, the stain will still be there, clear as day, on that mauve carpet.
 
For some of us, this is how we can feel about the sins and regrets of our past; like we have a permanent blemish that cannot be removed, only concealed. Even after finding salvation through Jesus Christ, we can still feel as though we are hopelessly and irreversibly stained from the guilt of our choices.
 
This is not what God wants for us. He didn't send Jesus to the cross for us to only experience partial salvation and restoration; He wants us to be made entirely new through His sacrifice.
(see 2 Cor. 5:17).
 
The Bible says in Psalm 103:12 that, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”  You see, the Lord doesn’t just conceal our mistakes, leaving us with stains that are simply hidden from plain view, He removes them from us completely. He washes away our crimson stains and offers us a new life in Him. Jesus Christ alone, is the All-Purpose Cleaner that we need to become truly spotless.

Author

Marsha Sommer