2:104 – Rinse And Repeat

#faithbites #faithjourney rinse

“Lather, Rinse, and Repeat” are the infamous directions on the back of almost every bottle of shampoo. Come with dirty hair, get a good lather going, rinse away all the soap, and repeat as necessary.

During most days, as I live my life, I think about what I’m going to share during #faithbites that night. Basically what message the Lord wants me to share. I had one going, but then tonight just got frustrated with the kids again. Same issues with going to bed, no listening ears, you get it.

Kids don’t listen, I get mad, kids get mad, we apologize, forgive, and love. Then tomorrow the same thing happens again. Well, not everyday, but you get the picture.

Our relationship with Jesus is like that. We go out, get good and dirty (sinful), come to him with forgiveness, he washes us clean, then we go out and repeat. The wonderful thing about Jesus is unlike a bottle of Shampoo, his love never runs out, he never gives up, and will always forgive our sins.

Scripture

• as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. – Psalm 103:12
• If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9
• Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. – Matthew 18:21

Reflection

To be forgiven 77 times for the same thing sounds like overkill, but our Lord has absurd forgiveness and absurd love for us. We see that as far as the east is from the west, the Lord takes away our transgressions. So the count never goes up by one as they are completely removed from us. We have eternal forgivness when we are truly sorry.

I feel bad each and every time I lose my cool. I have over the years gotten better but I still lose it occasionally. But I ask for earthly forgiveness and I ask for my heavenly father to forgive me as well.

So I guess, life is like the directions to the shampoo. But we have to follow them. We can’t just get dirty and not follow through with the lather and the rinse.

Charge

Are you committing the same transgression or sin again and again? Go to the Lord. He will forgive you. Listen to him. He will help you not only ease away from the sin, but give you a clean slate. The hardest part is forgiving yourself.

Prayer

Lord, on this Palm Sunday, I raise up a Hosanna. For it means “God Save Us”. We need your gracious forgiveness even when we repeatedly sin. We thank you for your absurd love and your forgiveness even when we don’t deserve it. Help us to grow each day in faith and stray further away from temptation. In your name, Amen.