The Towel

     I had a basket of dirty laundry in the kitchen, ready to go out to the washing machine.  I noticed a red drink spill on the kitchen floor and absent mindedly , I picked up a cream colored towel out of the pile and wiped up the wet mess.  I threw the whole pile right into the washing machine.  I washed all the towels with detergent and hot water, but the towel came out of the dryer, stained.  What could I do, I folded it and put it away with the other towels.
     After a shower a few days later, I picked up that same towel off the shelf, to dry myself.  I noticed the stain and I felt uneasy using that towel, it still looked dirty to me.  I thought back, the towel had gone through the same process to get clean as all the other towels, that stain was new, it might lighten up in time but the towel was clean.
     Drying myself with this towel made me think of how I feel about forgiveness.  When I sin, I ask for forgiveness, and God forgives me.  But sometimes I still feel the stain of my sin that is left behind and I feel as though I am still dirty.  God has forgiven me but I haven't forgiven myself, I still feel guilty.  So I have to remind myself that what God has made clean is clean indeed.  Then I need to accept the fact that I am clean.
     Jesus is our cleaning process, and I am the towel.  And as the towel I am not responsible for the cleaning process.  So I also can't take credit for getting myself clean.  But if I deny that I am clean, I deny that Jesus forgives, and the sin remains because of my lack of faith.
     Isaiah 4: 30 says, "Come now let us reason together says the Lord:  though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;  they are as red as crimson, they shall become like wool."  If we ask, God will remove our sins as far as the east is from the west, all we have to do is believe and recieve.