What Could You Do with a Clean Slate?

Christians are always talking about salvation, the cross, the forgiveness of sins. What, exactly, does all of that mean, and what does it have to do with living day-to-day in this world? Recently, we were given a VERY INTENSE object lesson that, I believe, will help explain it.

Scott and I are not "workers" in the corporate sense. Years ago, when I had a taste of what it meant to climb the corporate ladder, I found a rung that worked for me and stayed put. I was a mom, and that was more important to me than a title. Even as our children left the nest, I found more "eternal" things to do. Those things keep me just as busy as ladder-climbing ever could. Scott is not a "work for the man" kind of guy: he is creative and thinks veeeery independently. He has the ability to stay busy all day long, but we haven't quite found a cash-rich market for a uniquely artistic loner. We don't live high on the hog by any means. We are accustomed to a month or two in which every bill cannot be covered. We are accustomed to having no savings or vacation fund. We wait, God supplies, and we do our best to steward our resources well. We have questioned and prayed and questioned some more but God always steps in, and we take that as an indication we are where we need to be. By September of this year, however, frugality finally gave way like an old rubber band. --SNAP!-- Medical concerns, a terrible season for home improvements, and unforeseen expenses took us to a level of poor we'd never encountered before. We had nothing to give. We longed to simply breakeven; we longed for the freedom of a clean slate.

The Gospel of Luke records the healing of a crippled woman who spent eighteen years of her life looking at everyone's feet. God, through Luke, says she could in no way raise herself up. In no way! She had no resources. Her muscles would not pull her skeleton to an upright position. She had nothing to give! But Jesus... He loosed her, He touched her, and she was made straight! Scripture says she glorified God. Of course she did! can you imagine the relief? Eighteen years of bending your neck and straining your vision in an attempt to look someone in the eye. Eighteen years of being pitied or ignored or rejected. Eighteen years of being unable to work, depending on the generosity of others just to eat. Eighteen years! And in a moment, it was changed. The world became full of possibility: she could work, she could dance, she could meet the gaze of those around her. She was freed! Imagine the liberation of a clean slate!

So, what does salvation, the cross, the forgiveness of sin have to do with living day-to-day in this world? What does it mean? A clean slate for those who have nothing to give. A clean slate for those who can in no way raise themselves to a perfect, right-with-God standing. Romans 3:23, tells us all have sinned, and we fall short of the glory of God; a God who cannot be one with unrighteousness. Scripture states there is none righteous, and the penalty of that unrighteousness, our sin, is death. With a debt such as that, we can never have relationship with our Creator. That is, unless Someone pays that penalty for us, in our place; unless Someone steps in and becomes the Way in which we can be made straight. Jesus is the Way. He pays the cost, leaving us debt-free! The charges against us have been erased and we have a clean slate! The burden of our debt is removed along with the debt itself! Imagine the liberation of a clean slate!

It's October, and for Scott and me, a HUGE chunk of our debt has been paid. GOD! (I'll leave that explanation for another day, perhaps.) The freedom, the lightness, the relief we feel gives a whole new way of looking at things! We have the opportunity to stash a bit away for emergencies and save for charitable causes. We can think about going on vacation next year and plan for some home repairs. And while we are far from being as unburdened as having the debt of our past, present, and future canceled for all eternity, I can get a feel for the healing of that woman Jesus touched. Would she have to now find a way to live in this world? Sure, but she wouldn't have to do it with such a heavy load, with charge after charge counted against her. That is the message of salvation, the cross, and the forgiveness of sin. We are made right with God, but the liberation Jesus purchased for us is not exclusively for some "far off" day when we are escorted into heaven. It is for today! It allows us to walk in freedom. It provides opportunities to love and serve that would not be possible without the work of His Holy Spirit in our hearts. It is the clean slate
we need to live in this world but not like the world. It brings us upright in a way we could in no way achieve and sets us on a new path as servants of and with infinite resources provided by a God who paints His name across the skies and demonstrates His incredible intelligence in DNA. He uses those He redeems to reveal Himself to the rest of humanity in a most glorious way! And it all begins with a clean slate.