It is yellow, powdery, and covers everything on our deck.
Pollen. Ugh! There is nothing that escapes being blanketed by it in the spring. I know it is a necessary part of the life cycle of plants, but the fact remains that it causes major exasperation for people. It coats cars, homes, decks, plants, tables and rugs. It makes its way through openings in your home to invade the inside spaces. It clings to the bottom of shoes and shows up as footprints making their way across the wood floors.
Pollen finds its way into our bodies, as we inhale the spring air, causing massive allergic reactions in hosts of people. Sneezing, runny nose, itchy, watery eyes, coughing, headaches…..oh, the misery of it.
There is no way to avoid or prevent pollen’s advent. It simply is a part of life lived in these beautiful mountains of north Georgia, as well as other places.
So it is with sin. It covers everyone who is born in to the family of Adam and Eve. It invades the heart causing rebellion and disobedience against God. The human condition evidences massive reactions to sin…..lying, greed, pornography, human trafficking, homosexuality, child abuse, rage, adultery, gluttony, murder, pride. The list of reactions to sin is endless.
This weekend, we mounted an attack against the pollen that coated our deck. With water hose and mop in hand, Greg and I washed away the pollen. It was hard work, but worth it. Now, our deck is clean and beautiful without that yellow tint caused by the layer of pollen that had built up. The cleansing flow of water coupled with the scrubbing of the mop brought forth, once again, the beauty of the cedar deck.
Two thousand years ago, on a hill just outside of Jerusalem, Jesus, the Son of God, died on a cross to make it possible for His blood to flow over my sin-covered heart and wash it clean. There was no way I, nor any other human, could remove the sin that invaded our hearts and separated us from God. We were too sin-infested. Only a perfect person could take my sin and give me His perfection before God. That person was Jesus, and He died for me. He died for you. The blood He shed on the cross washes away the sin of all who believe. The work He did was hard, but He decided that you and I were worth it. He took your sin, and mine, as His own, and gave us His right standing before God. The great exchange.
I had to recognize that our deck needed some cleansing in order to be beautiful again. Just as we had to work to bring forth the beauty of our deck from beneath the yellow blanket of pollen, you and I must recognize our need for Jesus. We must do the work of confessing our rebellion to God and allowing the blood of Jesus to cleanse us and make us into new creatures, bringing forth the beauty of a renewed life. Jesus did the hard work on the cross. All we have to do is believe and receive his free gift.
Do you?
Have you?
Will you?
Your heart and life can shine and sparkle with renewed beauty. All it takes is Jesus!
