We have some major construction going on just a short distance from our home. A major highway, which is within earshot of our backyard is being remade to accommodate for the increase in traffic. The construction is on its second year and will undoubtedly not be completed until 2023. In the meantime, I have a really good excuse for not washing my windows. It would be a futile task, you see, because each day a new film of dirt covers them. When I look out those layers of dirt each day, I feel guilty for ignoring the task. Sunshine is trying to streak through those dirt-filled panes, yet all I can do is wait for the reconstruction to end.

When I think about the windows, I can’t help but relate to my sinful soul and how God envisioned it before I came to believe in the work His spirit continues to do within me. The outside is still under construction. There is still the dirt of guilt and original sin. There is nothing I can do until the reconstruction is complete. Maybe that’s why I’m still alive. I know that God has already washed the windows of my soul. He sent His only Son to take on the task. Jesus carried the dirt to the cross where He suffered and died to redeem me. I believe He proved that His work was accomplished when He rose to life again. I know that if I come to Him daily and ask for forgiveness, it’s like being washed clean again and again.

The windows on our house will remain clouded. The sun will occasionally sneak through. I will still be able to enjoy the critters as they romp in the yard, but each day the view becomes a little less clear. Each day brings more accumulation of residue and darkness. The world grows dirtier and obsessed with evil and filth. Even though the devil seems to be winning, I am confident that my sins have already been washed away.

Now I need someone to wash my windows!

“ This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:5-7 ESV