"car wash" column

We had a good chuckle last week at a drive through car wash in Dallas. It is a fancy one where an attendant meets you at the front to loosen the bugs and presoak your vehicle before you enter. I was thankful that the guys were there ready to assist because my car was covered with Freestone county sludge an inch thick from the rain and bugs must think my car is attractive or a magnet because they flock to it. I also needed help guiding my car onto the medal railing system that pulls you through the car wash. When I was in high school, I tore the fender off of a Chevy and I have not been the same since. Right off the bat we noticed a red truck to our right that was sparkling clean. We thought it was totally absurd that the guy would waste his time and money on a wash. His truck was as shiny and clean as a fire truck ready for duty after a hand washing at the station. My kids joined in and called him a “city boy.” They said he needed a trip to our pasture to discover the meaning of mud and dirt. I looked at him in line and thought: I am dirty. He is clean. How often do we do that in life? We judge people and compare our “dirt” or sin to theirs? God must get really annoyed with us when we waste all of our energy judging and analyzing other people and never take the time to examine ourselves personally. I allowed the situation with the red truck to get even worse in my mind. I pictured my dirt spraying back and getting him filthy. It was a visual of the old throw dirt on someone else to make yourself look cleaner or at least pull them in the muck with you. In the judicial system or with the law we may be guilty by association; however, in the eyes of the Lord, we are judged individually and on a personal basis. We are fully responsible for confessing our own sin and we can’t clean anyone else up or make them look worse for that matter. I awoke from the comparison game when I heard a startling loud noise. The lone attendant had to call for help with his emergency buzzer. My car was a two man job for sure. We held up the line and had cars backed up to Northwest Highway. Maybe I could pen a country song about the country folk coming to town with their dirt and make my family proud. On a more serious note, sin is serious and when we are dirty, there is always a way to be washed clean. We need not let layers and layers of dirt or sin to build up because it makes us miserable. We also do not need to look over at someone’s sin and be their judge. Will the car wash turn me away if I go back this weekend? I do not think so. Will Jesus turn us away and refuse to wash us free and forgive us of our sins? I think not. He will take us back time and time again and clean us up. There are always consequences to sin so we may have a few chips, scrapes and dents, but we can and will be clean again if we call on the name of Jesus. 1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”