I ran across an article the other day which highlighted the restoration of Night Watch, one of Rembrandt's paintings. It's called the Night Watch, but this moniker has proven to be something of a historical misnomer. As they were restoring the painting, they came across a severe build up of dirt and varnish. It was traditionally thought to be a night scene. The recent cleansing, however, has dispelled this idea. The picture is a riot of colors – blues, greens, reds, oranges, browns and yes, lemon yellow. The dirt kept the patrons from seeing the brilliance of the colors in the painting.
As we walk and serve, sometimes we inadvertently pick up dirt in our lives, and there are times when we intentionally pick up dirt. Either way, if we do not cleanse ourselves internally, we can get dirt build up and people conclude that our lives are a night scene, when there are vibrant colors waiting to break forth. Now, if we neglect daily cleansing, we will experience spiritual decline until we no longer feel the need for spiritual things. As we fail to see our need for frequent cleansing from our sins, cleansing becomes something we no longer sense a need for. The fact is, we need frequent and daily spiritual cleansing.
I believe cleansing and healing happens in several ways: through the water of the Word (Ephesians 5:26, Psalm 119:9), confessing sins to God (1 John 1:9), and confessing our sins to one another (James 5:16). These habits keep the dirt from building up in our lives on a day to day basis. Moreover, we will worship God in purity and holiness and we will serve people with integrity. Also, and probably most importantly, these daily practices will allow the brilliant colors of God's grace, forgiveness, love, freedom, peace and power to explode and shine through in our lives and our world.
When was the last time you let Jesus cleanse you through the aforementioned practices? Do you have a safe place where, or a safe person with whom you can share your deepest struggles and who will pray for you?
What other frequent spiritual practices do you think can help cleanse our lives? Let me know what you think.
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Tags: Cleansing, Forgiveness
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February 24th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Choosing forgiveness! Whether it’s to daily accept the forgiveness that God shows us or to daily choose to forgive someone else for their transgessions towards us. When their are “bigger” issues, sometime we need to stay in a continual state of choosing forgiveness, otherwise we can be consumed with thoughts and feelings that cause a “dirt build up”.
Thanks for the post. I needed it this morning!