Message summary: From the perspective of a holy God we all need a good washing.

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"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-12). "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

On Saturday afternoon I took a neighborhood bike ride and saw that my neighbor Levi was harvesting his field of watermelons. I drove back the farm lane to observe the process up close. It's a family undertaking as Levi and several of the older boys were picking ripe melons from the field. I learned that melon ripeness was determined by a curly tendril, not the physical appearance of the melon!*

After one picks the melon he tosses it to another boy who places it on a conveyor leading up to the wagon. Another child loads the bins.

The melons picked fresh from the field are rather unappealing in appearance, dirty and covered with splatters of mud from the rain. Later that evening I rode back over to get several melons and watched as they went through a washing process similar to a tunnel car wash with spraying water and brushes. The melons come out the other side clean with an appealing shiny green color. After that they are labeled and packed in boxes for shipment out to market. Look at the label, you might find one near you.

Watching the melons going into the washer and coming out brought to mind a portion of our daily text, the phrase "But you were washed". This is speaking not of watermelons but of the redeemed who go through a washing process as part of our redemption.

Bible teacher William MacDonald in the Believer's Bible Commentary observes, "They had been washed from their sin and impurity through the precious blood of Christ, and they were being continually washed from defilement through the word of God."

Let's consider this in our own lives. According to our own reckoning we see various degrees of defilement. Some melons are picked from the field very dirty and some not so much. The convert from a life of sexual immorality and substance abuse and the child turning to Christ at an early age both need cleansing.

From the perspective of a holy God we all need a good washing both at the time of our conversion and ongoing. John wrote, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

Today, we ask you, have you been washed?

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13.

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber