Painting seems to some as a mundane chore, but I love it. Absolutely love it. In making the preparations for our renter to move in this weekend, I painted a ton in the basement because it hasn’t been done in a few years and it needed to be freshened up a bit. It’s amazing what paint can do. The way it covers every mark and blemish, all the dirt or grime, and the little dust and yucky things on the baseboards that can’t be totally removed with a toothbrush, sudsy water, and elbow grease. The paint just glides over it all. When you have good paint combined with a good paintbrush with the angled tip, you can load your brush and just draw a new surface over the old.

It was peaceful to paint, and in prayer I accepted that Christ’s ability to give me a fresh coat to cover away the grime of sins, the stains of hurt, and the dust of doubt. It’s a learning experience for me to see that new surface He provides repeatedly. Why is it sometimes hard to accept and live in that fresh new surface with freeing knowledge? Sometimes the normal “wear and tear” of my life harms, dents, chips, and dirties my fresh surface from Christ, but He continually paints a new one for me when I seek Him. It seems to me though, the more paint that goes on, the harder it is to ding, chip and scar the surface… it’s as if the surface underneath, is so protected by the paint it takes something really rough to damage it.

The pigment in the paint astounds me. Have you ever washed out a paintbrush after painting? You can wash it and wash it and still you’ll see the pigment coming from it. It’s not some simple rinse and dry, it’s an extended washing of the brush to clean it. The paint of Christ has so much pigment like that, that’s why it covers the stains of our lives so well, it makes them dissappear under the new coat, and they can no longer be seen.

“…and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:21-23

+++Lord, as I pursue Your pleasure today, I pray to live in the freedom You have given me to be cleansed and new. Every morning I have the joy of knowing that Your faithfulness is new because Your compassions never fail. Please show me where in my heart I am not letting Your cleansing take full effect, please show me where I am living in the past with the dings and scratches of old, instead of taking on my new freshly painted surface and living boldly with the freshness You have given me. Thank You Lord… thank You for the joy of knowing You’ve made me as white as snow.+++