Stain buster.

Oops, (loud crash) I just spilled spaghetti all over the carpet? Hmm, do I use a shop vac? Club soda? Maybe bleach will work? What takes a stain out of a carpet? Quick, I need help. When you need carpet cleaning help, who do you turn to? HONEY, bring me the garden hose!!!

Yesterday, we had a professional carpet and tile cleaning company come to work on our floors. In my head, I'm still using the 1980 rental carpet scrubber. Just put some solution in the holding tank and get busy. These fellows had their scrubber in the back of a full size van. No, I mean the van was the scrubber. They had high pressure pumps, gauges, wands, special attachments, and enough specialized chemicals to start their own laboratory. It appears as though some science and chemistry have been infused into carpet cleaning. And why not, since dirt and stains are organic.

Aside from the excellent work done to our carpets, it was interesting to hear about new techniques that combat stubborn stains. For instance, in our family room there were a couple deep stains that would not budge. Enter the professionals and oxygen. Yes, I said oxygen. They infused a dose of O2 into the stain areas and explained how this treatment breaks down organic substances and the longer the carpet dries, the lighter the stain becomes. Who knew the stuff we need to sustain life can also remove the spaghetti spills of life.

The connection between stained carpets and our stained souls is too close in similarity to not consider how God chooses to make us whiter than snow. When our life is soiled beyond our own means to clean it, God sent His son to us. When all of our attempts to self-redeem failed miserably, Jesus poured out His blood on us and we became ----well, I'll let King David describe the process....

"Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. (Psalm 51:2-7, NIV)

When considering our souls and how to offer them to God blameless and without stain, we should not use our own feeble efforts to clean them up. It will look like we were blindfolded and running the 1980 carpet scrubber. Instead, how about we submit to the good work of Jesus Christ who has claimed victory over the dirt, grime, and stains of life to present us before God holy and blameless. Our stains have been busted and removed!