God SWEEPS away our sins

Keyword sweep (verb): to clear by repeated and forcible action; to remove from sight or consideration 

I am the one, I sweep away your transgressions for my own sake and remember your sins no more. Isaiah 43:25 CSB

Every time I sweep my kitchen floor, I wonder the same thing: didn’t I just do this? How can there be this much dust/dirt/hair again already? The same thing happens at school. We sweep in the morning, and by afternoon we can fill another dustpan with crumbs, scraps, dried mud from the playground, used band-aids, and pieces of crayon. It’s disgusting.

And so is sin. God hates it. We hate it. But it keeps gathering in the corners of our minds and in the secret places of our hearts. It is hard to keep up with the messes we make.

Recently as I was cleaning, I was imagining God sweeping away my transgressions. Does he have to keep jamming his broom at different angles into the same area to get every last bit? Or does he just come through with a huge, multi-angled dust-mop and get it all at once?

I would guess he does a little of both.

I’m positive that he can eliminate our collective sin in one cleansing swipe, and he has already done that once and for all. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross paid the ultimate price for all the sins of the world. Because of his death and resurrection, our transgressions are completely swept away, cleared from God’s sight or consideration. He promises to remember them no more.

But sometimes we try to hold onto some of them in the sticky places where things like to hide. And other times, we think we may have successfully swept a few of them under the rug. We hope that God won’t hear our little white lies or our gossipy conversations. Maybe he won’t notice when we are judging others or acting jealous. If we keep it a secret, he might not notice when we give someone or something else first place in our hearts instead of him.

Of course, he can see it all. Every single speck. And he is determined to rid our hearts and minds of all the filth. If he needs to use the small hand broom with the finest, pokiest bristles he will. He will keep sweeping the same places over and over until he gets the very last bit.

Trying to clean ourselves up isn’t easy. Even if we think we are doing a pretty good job, we still need God to go over everything for us. He promises us a thorough, dramatic, one-time sweep to wipe all our transgressions away for his sake and for ours. And, he promises to faithfully continue to forgive us as he works on our tougher places daily.

Let’s trust him to sweep us completely clean.

Dear Jesus, you took all the sin of the world upon you. Thank you for providing a clean sweep of forgiveness for me. Help me to trust you with all my messy places. Amen.