Filthy Rags

   Isaiah 64:6 shocked me when I first read it on my own. I first zeroed in on it at thirteen years old. It said that any righteousness of my own, was as filthy rags! It shocked me because I had been raised in a strong Christian home, obeyed and respected God and my parents, worked hard in school, and actually thought I was a really good girl. By now, of course, at fifty-four, I understand it ever so much better! I no longer have mistaken illusions that I am a good person because of my own doings. Any good in me, comes from Christ, and Christ alone.

   Nothing we can ever achieve on our own, is worth anything. Our sins could destroy us, blowing us to new places that we didn't necessarily want to visit. Only God can save us.

   But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; Isaiah 64:6a

   Filthy rags? That sounds just about as nasty as anything I can imagine. I can think of two things immediately, that would make rags too filthy to ever be used again. Rags that a skunk has squirted, and rags that have been wrapped around a long-dead carcass. In other words, absolutely sickening and useless. That's really dreadful to think of.

   When the Bible says that anything we do by ourselves, that we think is good, is as useless in God's eyes as filthy rags, it is making an extremely vivid and loud statement.

   I don't think our inherent uselessness could be described in any more of a gruesomely lurid manner.

   Did God put this in the Bible in order to insult us? A thousand times no! Out of immense love, God sends this very clear warning, like those we give our little children, not to run into the street, for fear of harm. It is to help us remember to stay close to Him. God has a very strong reason for pointing this out to us like a horrifying neon sign to our spirit. If we permitted ourselves to think that we were innately good, we could easily forget how much we need God in our lives.

   ... and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Isaiah 64:6b

   If we forget how much we need our Heavenly Father, great harm can befall us. Our grievous temptations and sins, which stalk and plague us, can easily take us over, and blow us away from Him. When the wind blows something away, it takes it right off the ground; whirls it in the air, and doesn't set it down somewhere else until it's good and ready to. When we are blown away from God with our own sins; so caught up in our sins that we have lost our way entirely, our lives become, indeed, like a faded leaf, whisked through the air, and set down in a pile of rotting vegetation to vanish from sight.

   As human beings, we are a fickle race. We are scatter-brained, and selfish. We turn at a whim, and follow our own leanings. We make up our minds to be good, and unexpectedly sin the next minute. No matter how sincerely we desire to please God all the time, we will always fail if we're trying with our own will alone. Without Jesus, we are hopeless. We need Him all the time, to give us strength and stamina to follow Him. We need Him to cleanse and renew us spiritually.

   Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psa 51:10

   God's goodness IN us is what can shine, clean and bright, for His glory. Only our Heavenly Father can cleanse our sins, washing them away from us. Like small children, who play in the dirt, and fall in the mud, needing cleaning every single day; we, in our sinful nature, dirty ourselves, and fall again and again. We are in constant need of God's creating in us a new clean heart, and of His washing our sins away so our spirits will be whiter than snow once more.

   Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psa 51:7b

   Jesus never stops loving us. He never gives up on us. It's only with God's mercy, that He never forgets what manure pile we have gotten ourselves into this time. He always is near, ready to pull us out. All we have to do is raise our eyes to Him, raise a hand to Him, and He will, in pure and infinitely patient love, rescue us yet again.

   When close friends talk with each other, the bond of friendship grows deeper. It is the same with God. The only way to stay close to God, is to continue to talk to Him. The more we talk to Him, the more keenly we can feel His nearness and His love. The closer we get, the more clearly do we comprehend His guidance.

   Even when we are following Christ's calling for us, and working hard every day for God, we can still float off a bit, if we lose track of the need to spend quiet time with Christ Jesus. To float is to have lost contact with the ground. Our Heavenly Father is our ground, our rock, our stability. When I float like that, I begin to miss Him. No matter how busy I am, I have a great need not to lose even a little of my fellowship with Christ.

   As children of God, we have a real need to commune with our Saviour; to remember to praise Him, and tell Him how much we love Him. His companionship is the light that makes us able to find our way. The farther we drift from Him, the darker and dirtier things become. It is so easy to wander from the path God has for us. Without light, we cannot function the same. Even if we think we know what we're doing, we won't see everything, and we may miss something that God has for us, either guidance or a gift. Without light, we might even miss a soiled place in our spirit, a sin we didn't even see creep in.

   Every time we come back to His side, and are cleansed and renewed once more, He blesses us, and warms us with His love. With His help and guidance lighting our efforts, He makes them shine for His glory.