What God Has Cleansed
Be encouraged by today’s Scripture reflection and prayer.
Today's Scripture
Acts 11:9 (NLT)
But the voice from heaven spoke again: ‘Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.
Reflection
As a child, whenever I had no one to play with, I would make mud pies. As a matter of fact, sometimes Mama would call me a dirt dauber, taken from a type of wasp that uses mud to build nests. Not to mention, I would walk out the door clean and come back in dirty. I was not a dainty little girl. I loved to explore all that I could, and mud was part of it.
Now Mama had to clean all of that off me, from my skin to my clothes. Some of those stains were pretty hard to get out, even with the best washing. Dirt has a way of clinging, working its way into places you do not even notice at first.
That picture comes to mind when I read Acts 11:9. Peter is recounting the vision God gave him, teaching him not to call unclean what God had cleansed. Though the immediate context was about people and the breaking down of barriers, the truth about God’s cleansing work speaks deeply to the heart.
Sin clings to us far more than mud ever did to my childhood clothes. It marks our thoughts, our actions, and our hearts. And just like those stubborn stains, no amount of our own effort can fully wash it away. We may try to clean ourselves up on the outside, but the deeper need is within.
But God does what we cannot do.
Through Christ, God cleanses. Not a surface rinse. Not a temporary covering. A true cleansing. He removes guilt. He forgives sin. He makes new what was once stained. When God declares something clean, it is not partial or uncertain. It is complete.
And here is the part that humbles me. Sometimes we still look at ourselves, or others, through the lens of the old dirt. We remember what was, what we did, or what someone else did, and we are tempted to define by the stain. But God says, What I have cleansed, do not call common. When He cleanses, it is complete, and by His Spirit He continues the work of renewing us into the image of His Son.
Today's Prayer
Lord, thank You that Your cleansing is deeper than anything I could ever do on my own. Thank You for washing away sin through Christ and making me new. Help me not to live as though I am still stained by what You have already forgiven. Teach me also to see others through Your grace, remembering that Your cleansing work is powerful and complete. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Before You Go
Even as believers in Christ, we can forget this. We can slip back into shame, rehearse old failures, or believe the lie that we are still defined by what we once were. But Jesus did not cleanse you halfway. He did not forgive you temporarily. His work was complete. When God says you are clean, that is truth, even on the days you do not feel it.
And maybe someone reading this feels very aware of the dirt right now. Maybe the stain feels fresh, not old. Hear this clearly: God’s cleansing is not only for the past version of you. It is for today. As we walk with Him, His Spirit continues the work of renewing us into the image of His Son. Come to Him. Confess. Trust in the finished work of Christ. His grace is still sufficient, and His mercy still reaches the places you wish no one could see.
Do not live as though you are beyond His cleansing, and do not live as though His cleansing was not enough. He makes clean. He restores. He makes new.
