One of the one of the best investments we ever made for Elen was a magnetic Etch-a-Sketch pad that we got from Tesco for £2.99. It might not sound particularly impressive on the surface of it, but trust me the hours of pleasure she got from doodling and creating were worth so much more than £2.99! In fairness to Elen she also loved to share her ‘sketchy’ with her parents and would regularly let me have a go on it. The thing is she only ever wanted me to draw one thing – a duck!
Initially my ducks weren’t that impressive, but after months of dedicated practice, I could soon draw ducks with my eyes shut – and I reckon they looked pretty cool! Elen, however, being the creative genius that she is, liked to add her own finishing touches to my master-pieces. These finishing touches would usually take the form of large, enthusiastic scribbles all over my beautiful art, which to Elen’s finely-tuned eye were master-strokes, though in reality she regularly, recklessly destroyed my ducks! One of the best things about the sketchy, however, is the little slider at the bottom that erases every trace of wanton vandalism and destruction, and leaves you with a brand-new canvas to start working on again.
It’s a powerful reminder of what Jesus has done for us.
If we’re honest, most of us would have to put our hand up and admit that in some way, shape or form we have messed up our lives. We have all sinned and done stuff that we regret and often times that regret is accompanied by a deep sense of shame.
But we can’t. We try any and every way we possible to numb the pain – drink, drugs, sex, violence, retail therapy, denial etc, but it never works. It’s like the beautiful picture that our lives should have been has been totally wrecked by our sin.
The truth is if we were offered a fresh start we’d grab it with both hands!
Well that’s precisely what Jesus offers.
Imagine every single word, thought and deed that you’ve ever done wrong, written on a sketchy (even the stuff you think is unforgiveable!) As Jesus shed His blood on the cross, it’s as if God Himself slides the wiper from one side to the other and in doing so - all trace of our sin is gone. The punishment that we deserve was taken by Jesus. The forgiveness we all crave is now freely available.
“the blood of Jesus [God's] Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1John 1 v 7)
“as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103 v 12)
It might sound too good to be true - but it’s not! It’s God’s loving gift to guilty people in a messed-up world. There’s only one appropriate response:
“Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3 v 19-20)
Dai Hankey is a church-planting pastor in South Wales and the author of the The Hard Corps soon to be published by The Good Book Company.
Dai Hankey is a church-planting pastor in Cardiff, where he lives with his wife, Michelle, and four young children. He is founder of Red Community, a Christian charity that fights human trafficking in Wales. Dai is a former skateboarder and loves to DJ. He is the author of The Hard Corps, A Man's Greatest Challenge and the Eric Says… series.
