Once, I was on the hunt, for the perfect white t-shirt. I was extremely picky, because I wanted it to be just the right material with just the right thickness. I remember one day wandering all around Old Navy with my mom and daughter, who was four at the time, searching for this perfect shirt. As I hunted, a little voice stepped around the corner from the shelves next to me and exclaimed, "Hello! I am the perfect little white t-shirt. Can you buy me, and wear me, and take me home with you?" It was the voice of my daughter.
For the rest of our shopping trip at Old Navy, she played the role of a "little white t-shirt." I pretended to purchase her and ride her around in my cart. At one point, we pretended I had lost her, and I had to go around the store calling for her. "Oh little white t-shirt, where are you? I have lost you! I miss you!" I would pretend to be searching for her, and then she would step out and exclaim, "Here I am! You never lost me!" Then we would both giggle.
Psalm 51:6-7 reads, "You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."
Just like my search for the perfect white t-shirt, we often find ourselves seeking the cleansing from our own transgressions that makes us "whiter than snow." We often find ourselves seeking various ways that we can find freedom from our sins. It can be through certain actions, certain reactions, certain relationships, or certain escapes. However, what we are really seeking is the perfect cleansing that we can only get from God. "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin." (Psalm 51:1-2).
When we seek forgiveness from the Lord, God's great mercy will truly be poured out on us. We will be forgiven, and our iniquities blotted out leaving a clean slate crisp as a perfect white t-shirt. God is ready and waiting for us to seek out His grace. It is as if the Lord is waiting to appear from around the corner stating, "Here I am. Allow me to put my grace on you. Walk around in it. Take it home. Be pure and cleansed."
When you feel lost and drowning in your own transgressions, remember God is never lost. God's right there reaching out His arms of grace to cover you. So accept it. Start over. Put it on. Take it with you, because it is the perfect whiter than snow covering anyone can wear. Your search ends here.
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit" (Psalm 51:10-12).