Quite sometime ago a young girl sang a song called “Come Clean” by Hilary Duff (Disney’s Lizzy Maguire). She talks about how the rain “awakens her dreams and let it wash away my sanity.” I misheard and that she was saying “let it wash away my sins.” Either way those are two separate concepts. Yet sometimes our sanity is tested by the trials and tribulations we face daily.

  Jesus said “we need to take up our cross daily.” That is not easy to do in this post modern age. We have things that go on at work, play, and dare I say at home too that make us feel uneasy. Not all hope is lost because as Christians we know since Jesus paid the ultimate price for you and me we can do it and do it proudly. I remember growing up as a kid seeing a good news Bible and it showed an in illustration of both young and old doing this very act. We all have our obligations, but at the forefront we need to focus our eyes on Jesus as the writer of Hebrews addresses the church both then and now. The world is indeed seek and needs the Great Physician more than ever. It needs to be cleansed of its insanity and sickness. Yet Jesus did that over 2000 years ago when He took upon Himself sin, death, hell, and the devil. We have nothing to fear. 

  We know that the body and blood of Jesus offers life, salvation, and the forgiveness of sins. That is our antidote for our miserable lives. When we eat and drink His body and blood we have the courage to stand proudly to face whatever may come our way. We know Jesus is with us in this world walking along side of us and the world yet to come. What joy comes to the sinners heart. I tell people I got your six twenty four three hundred sixty five. Meaning if they need someone to help or listen to them I am here for them. I care about all people regardless of whoever they are or wherever they come from. Jesus wants us to take care of our neighbors. I am not a therapist, social worker, or any of those things. I am a husband, father, airman, and cafeteria worker. My vocation is also a son to some awesome parents who love me dearly. They taught me some really cool virtues about life. One gem being “we don’t hate anyone we might dislike them, but we don’t hate them.” Hate is such a strong word. A stronger word is the word Love. Jesus himself told us “for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall be saved.” Jesus love is divine and pure because it flows from the beating heart of God which cares about all young and old alike. 

This is one thing that the world needs more than ever. It needs to feel love again. But the unanswered question is how do we show this love? We show it in the words we say and the actions we do. It requires us to walk with Jesus in faith not by our own works. Another musician called Jars of Clay wrote a song called “Flood.” In which the lead vocalist sings “rain, rain falling on my face keeps raining for days. But if I can’t swim after forty days lift me up so high…” The Gospels have a story in which Jesus meets Peter and pulls Him out of the drowning mess of his life and he believes that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God.” His confession is strong and sure. We too are told to drown the Old Adam in us daily. Our baptism does that it drowns him kicking and screaming. We are washed in the waters that cleanse our sinful lives and yet we are refreshed with God’s forgiveness and blessings that are beyond measure. 

  So I ask you next time you think about the rain remember my words to you “God has washed away your sins and He feeds you daily with daily bread.” It is amazing how one crumb of bread and a little bit of wine can become the very body and blood of Jesus that satisfies the sinner and it is enough to say Thank you! We fall on our knees thanking God for the gift of friends and their friendships they give us. I thank God for my friends and family who have been with me on my current walk of my life that I can refocus my eyes on what matters most “the love for others and most of all the Love for Jesus. God grant this to us all. In Jesus name. Amen