Dirty Shirt

 

 Life's Journey

Dirty Shirt

When I was teaching first grade, I had many memorable moments.  One day the children were working quietly at their desks and I was working at mine.  Suddenly one of the children said, "Mrs. Franklin, Chris is crying."  Now Chris was a rough and tough little boy.  He wasn't a bully, but he wasn't afraid to stand his ground either.  Given his personality, I was more than alarmed at his crying.  

I called him to  my desk, put my arms around him, and asked, "What's wrong?"  He began crying harder and replied, "My mama made me wear two shirts this morning and now I'm hot."  Now for those of you who do not live in Texas let me explain.  We can leave for school in the morning in 50 degree weather and return that afternoon in 85 or 90 degrees.  It had been cool that morning and his mother had put two t-shirts on him for warmth.  I sort of laughed at the simplicity of his concern and said, "Chris take the top shirt off."  Then he started crying uncontrollably and said, "I can't.  The one on the bottom is dirty."  I replied, "Chris, go to the bathroom, take the top shirt off, take the bottom shirt off, and then put the top shirt back on."  He did and was fine for the rest of the day.

Isn't that the way we are as Christian?  We clean up and dress up so we look really good on the outside.  But underneath we are dirty.  When we get disgusted with ourselves, we cry out and sit inside our dirty selves.  Crying doesn't help.  It doesn't make us feel better and certainly doesn't fix the problem.  We need to take the dirt off.  HOWEVER, we can't do that.  We are incapable of solving our problems.  We need help from someone.  

Just as I determined a solution to Chris' problem, God has the solution to our problems.  We need to allow him to clean our lives.  He is capable of making our insides as white or whiter than our outsides.  If you are in pain today because of sin and corruption, get alone with God and cry to Him like Chris cried to me.  Then follow His instructions and prepare to get rid of your pain.  God can cleanse the dirtiest inside shirt.