Ephesians 5:25-27 just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,….. not having spot or wrinkle but that she should be holy and without blemish.
Monday is the day I designated to be laundry day. I sort thru everyone’s clothes separately and look for any that may need special attention because of stains. Some stains are from food, dirt, oil, ink, perspiration, or makeup. The stains I find may have to be treated before washing to ensure they come out. Sometimes I miss a few and sometimes even the treated stains do not come out. This is usually not noticed until after the wash cycle is complete and/or maybe after drying. The clothes may look clean and smell clean, but. when the light hits it just right the stains appear. The garment looks horrible and unsuitable to be worn. They will have to go thru the process again. Sometimes even after changing the treatment, the garment is good for nothing but to be thrown away or used as rags.
Christ said He is looking for a church without a spot or wrinkle. One that is holy and without blemish. Since “the church” is not really the building we assemble in every week, we need to take a literal look at ourselves as we are the church. According to the Word of God, all of us have sinned and fallen short of His glory. So we all have to be and need to be cleaned. Christ washed us with His shed blood. That fixed the spiritual side of us. That is factual. However, being flesh, we still have some spot treatments that we need to go through. We have habits that need annihilated. Speech that needs bleached. Thoughts that need soaked, and deeds that need scrubbed. A one time treatment is usually not enough for most of us. Will God discard us who are permanently stained or would He use us in some way. Only He knows that. But when we let the Holy Spirit do the treatments, the spots and blemishes will be removed successfully and permanently. Then when we stand in the light of judgement we will stand totally clean.
Let’s take a good look at our lives. Let His light shine on your life and see if there are any of those hard to see blemishes. Ask God to reveal them so we can be retreated however many times it takes to get spotless and blemish free.
Most Holy Father. If there is anything in me that is not pleasing in Your sight, I ask you to take it out. I want to be holy and without a spot or wrinkle and acceptable unto You.