Sticky Mess.

If your life is a “sticky mess” of sin, there is hope. Carol reminds us that Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross to bring us salvation through faith in Him.

A Jumble of Pieces

When my daughter empties the puzzle pieces from the box so she can sort them, it reminds me of a mess. The pieces land upside down and right side up. The edge pieces are mixed with the middle pieces. There is nothing sticky about the mess, just a jumble of pieces needing sorting.

Making a Sticky Mess

However, I can make a mess of many things like cooking or baking, with spills that need wiping up.  I can also make a mess of myself. Have you ever dripped something on your shirt? My family laughs at me because it happens more frequently than I wish it would. It can happen at the most inopportune times. I was the after-dinner speaker at an event. The meal was lasagna—very tasty but runny lasagne and I had on a light-coloured shirt. At the end of the meal I had only one little pinprick size dot of sauce on my shirt which was not visible from a distance. Whew! I breathed a sigh of relief.

A Sticky Mess of Nutella

Another time, I traveled to a conference with my oldest daughter. Lorilee and I stopped for a break and some treats too. I chose a Nutella filled doughnut. You guessed it. The inside goo leaked out and before I could stop it, the sticky mess plopped on to my shirt. I grabbed a napkin and dabbed at the chocolate. It soaked up some of the sticky stuff but smeared more of it around. What a mess. Not unexpected but definitely unwanted, especially when for the first time ever, I had packed light and didn’t have extra shirts along for emergencies like this.

I figured I could try and wash it out when we arrived in our hotel room but chocolate tends to stain and without the right products to erase it, I might only smear it around and have it worse than ever. As we pulled into the city and took the exit towards our hotel, I spied a ladies’ wear store in a chain I often shopped in at home. I knew what would fit. I made a quick stop and bought several new shirts. It helped me have clean clothes for the conference but didn’t take care of the sticky mess and stain on the one I had worn on the trip.

Sin Makes a Mess

Sin is like that chocolate glob. It makes a mess in our lives. When we try and clean it up by ourselves, we smear it around, get it on more areas of life, and can’t get it clean without some help. Everything we try to do on our own is not good enough. Romans 3: 23 tells us

“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Just like we need the right products to get stains out of clothes, we need God to help remove the sin-stains in our lives. Jesus is the answer. In John 14: 6, Jesus says,

“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Romans 6: 23 continues and says,

“For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Isaiah 64: 6 talks about how the things we try and do to be good enough, those righteous, well-intentioned things, to earn God’s salvation and favour are just a mess in God’s sight.

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”

From Sticky Mess to Cleansing

Just like I needed to take off that chocolate-stained shirt, covered with a sticky mess, and put on a clean one, so I need to ask Jesus to forgive me, take away my sins, and clothe me with new garments. He will wash away the stain of sin through His blood shed on the cross and God will look on us and see the righteousness of Christ.

The wonderful news is that God accepts our call for his help, for his grace, and his redemption. Romans 10:13 says,

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

From sticky mess to cleansing, the choice is ours.

Do you ever feel like you don’t belong? We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.