Last Tuesday I had to make a Wal-Mart run to pick up a few things for Holly. As I was walking in, I stopped and watched people going in and out of the store. As I watched them I realized the reason why I was there was probably the same reason why everyone else was at Wal-Mart, they were there out of necessity. We all were at Wal-Mart because we all needed something. Then I felt God saying to me, “What if these people came to church like they come to Wal-Mart, out of a need?” Then the church would be full of people.
Well the Lord didn’t stop there. As I walked around Wal-Mart getting the things on my list, I realized how you can buy just about anything from Wal-Mart. It is a one stop shop! People go to Wal-Mart to get groceries, things for the car, medicine, and clothes. Then he showed me that Wal-Mart isn’t the only one stop shop. In reality, the only true ONE STOP SHOP is Jesus Christ Himself. The verse that came to my mind is found in Philippians 4:19. Paul writes to the Philippians saying: “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” In the Greek, the original language, all means ALL, nothing lacking. Just as we go to Wal-Mart, we can go to Christ to meet our needs.
This inspired the new series that I started preaching on Sunday. “Wal-Mart isn’t the Only One Stop Shop!” As I looked around, I saw all the departments in Wal-Mart. I saw how we can relate going to Wal-Mart to Jesus Christ in meeting our needs. So over the next several weeks I will be going to different departments of Wal-Mart and showing how Christ can meet our needs even more than Wal-Mart can!
The first message in the series was: “Wal-Mart isn’t the Only One Stop: Hitting the Cleaning Aisle!” If you are anything like me, you are really good at making messes! I know I am. Holly and I have done our fair share of remodeling houses in the past three years. We have painted, laid hardwood flooring, built a deck, tore a hot tub out of a gazebo and have added crown molding to our house. Every time we begin a job to our house there is usually a big mess that has to be cleaned up. There was sawdust, paint on places that didn’t need to be painted, and trash that needed to be thrown out. The sense of accomplishment that one has when the project is finished is overshadowed by the task of cleaning up the mess that was created! After tons of trash bags, Windex, and a few Magic Erasers along with some elbow grease, we got everything cleaned up.
You know, life is a lot like the messes we make around our homes. We seem to make a mess out of our lives. We do things in our lives that cause problems for us and our lives become a big mess. The big mess is a result of our sins. There are so many things that are ruining our lives. Drugs, alcohol, and sex outside of marriage are just a few. Sometimes we get so bogged down in our sins that we see no hope and we give up. We try so many times to clean up our lives to no avail, and when you seem to get nowhere with cleaning up your life, your life becomes miserable. Isaiah 64:4 says: “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.” The sins we commit leave deep stains in our lives. The longer the filth, grime and dirt are on the rag, the deeper the stain gets. Sin is the same way, the more we keep on sinning the deeper the stain gets and the mess gets bigger which pulls us from God the Father. Truth be known, there is nothing we can do to clean up the sin in our lives.
However, there is some AWESOME and GREAT news! 1 John 1:9 says, “But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” (NLT). WOW! How awesome is that! Jesus wants to cleanse our lives! Notice that John says when we go before Jesus and confess our sins to Him, that He is faithful to forgive us and to cleanse us. That doesn’t mean that He is willing to forgive us when He feels like it or not. You can count on it! He is going to cleanse you when you humble yourself before Him, tell Him what you have done wrong, and ask Him to forgive you. His cleansing is so deep and thorough that it does not leave a stain. Jesus did more work than anyone else in order to cleanse us of our sin, He went to the cross. There are no more stains and the lost hope that you once had has been restored. All the sins you have committed are gone! You have a peace and a new life in Him! See Jesus is the ultimate Magic Eraser! There is no sin or stain that He cannot clean up! Jesus Christ is in the cleansing business. He is willing and waiting to cleanse our lives of the nasty, grime, and the filth in our lives!
Every time I will walk down the cleaning aisle at Wal-Mart, I will be reminded how Jesus cleansed me of all my sins and wants to cleanse people of the sin in their lives. I thought of a commercial that someone should produce: “You want an ultimate cleaner? You have sin and stains that you can’t seem to get out yourself? Come to Jesus, He’s more powerful and mightier than Mr. Clean himself! Nothing can clean like the cleansing power of Jesus Christ!”
Listen to this sermon click here: The Cleaning Aisle
