Spotless

It’s consignment season. And even though I don’t spend near as much time putting together consignment items as I used to, I still consign clothing, and I still buy most of my children’s clothes via consignment. In the days when I only had one child, I was somewhat reckless with the amount of used clothing I would buy my child, as in I bought a whole lot more than I needed. Now, I simply don’t have the time, space, or energy to care for anything other than just the right amount. Over the years, I’ve gained maturity in this area of my life: I make a list of what each child has and what each child needs, and I only buy what they need.

We save all of my oldest daughter’s clothing for my youngest daughter, so my youngest has most of what she needs. The other two, many times get clothing during the Christmas season that will be worn the following year, and I store it and wait to see when or what can be worn.

Anyhow, I have been in the middle of all of that and this past week, I dropped my clothing off to be consigned. I usually do very well about checking for spots, as any piece of clothing that has a spot is deemed unsaleable or worthless in the consignment world. When I dropped off, two of my garments were regarded worthless due to spots. Now, I’ve taken quite a bit of pride not to add spotted garments in my pile, but this time, I obviously did not check my clothing very well. Although I hate to throw away any useable piece of clothing, I was seriously considering throwing out the spotted jacket and sweater upon returning home. I knew that they were stained beyond any stain remover’s ability to clean them. As I was considering this, God reminded me of His glorious grace.

Anytime we fail to meet God’s standard, we gain spots. We are not able on our own to remain spotless. Sometimes, these spots leave permanent stains that we of our own accord are unable to remove. Praise God, He is our stain remover, and His ability to remove the stains of sin and failure never ends. The only way we become clean and spotless is to be covered with the One who is Spotless and Pure – Jesus Christ! What Grace!

“Instead, you were liberated by the precious blood of Christ, like that of a flawless, spotless lamb.” 1 Peter 1:19 (CEV)