Are we – Drain Stoppers?

Hello everyone,

I was in prayer recently when God showed me a drain plug – a drain stopper.  Your know, the removable kind that you have in the kitchen sink to stop the water from going down the drain.

Just recently we celebrated Jesus’ resurrection.  I thought of how His blood washes our sins away.  Not only does He wash us clean, but He sends the sin right down the drain, never to be remembered again!  What a gift!  I thought of how He washed the Disciples’ feet – the dirtiest part, since sandals allow all the dirt from the road to get on them.  He did this in love and humility.  This was just a small part of the greater love and humility He demonstrated on the cross.   He washes all our sins away and makes us clean.

But are we drain stoppers?  Do we hold onto the sin and not let it go “down the drain?”  Or even worse – not give it to Jesus immediately to wash it away?  Do we feel too dirty to come to Him?  Jesus touched lepers, the most unclean in His day, to show us that no one and nothing is too dirty for Him to touch and wash clean.

Okay, so maybe you’ve given it to Him, but you’re still sitting in dirty water not letting it go down the drain.  How?  By not forgiving yourself.  Or, by letting the devil put you under guilt and condemnation after you have confessed your sin.  Yes, we are sorry – but if Jesus can forgive us, why can’t we forgive ourselves?  Why do we wallow in dirty water and not let it go?

It must make Jesus so sad to see us not living in the freedom He suffered and died to give us.  By human standards, we think that we should have to suffer until we “feel” better – shouldn’t we?  Don’t we have to punish ourselves – at least for a little while – as penance?  We deserve the misery, we think.

Well, by earthly reasoning it’s true – with human love, maybe so.  However, that is the key.  Jesus’ love for us is so great that we can’t always fathom it.  When we can get this from our heads into our hearts, then we will have an idea of how great His love is for us.  We may never fully understand the greatness of that love until we get to heaven.

In the meantime, let’s not be “drain stoppers” and let’s allow God’s freedom to grow us into the person He created us to be, and to bring us into all He desires for us. 

Blessings, Evelyn