THE CLOUD OF FORGIVENESS

  Photo by Eberhard Gros on Unsplash

I was raised in Seattle.  Rain, especially in the summer was such a blessing.  Even in the 1950’s and 60’s, the sky would get full of smog.  Then it would rain!  I noticed the cleansing effect it had on the air!  It would stay gloriously clear for a few days and then get smoggy again.  Then it would rain, and the cycle would continue.

Believe it or not, that pollution along with other particles in the air make rain possible!  The air is full of water.  The oceans, lakes, rivers, every puddle, pond and pool are evaporating and sending water vaper into the air.  This invisible water vapor is lighter than air and rises upward until it reaches cooler air.  The cool air causes it to condense on these dust particles and becomes visible, liquid water droplets in the form of clouds.  These then combine with other droplets and when they become heavy enough to form raindrops they fall to the ground.  By the way, I read that the average cumulus cloud weighs 1.1 MILLION pounds!!!!!

Think about it!  This ‘Water Cycle’, water rising and returning to the earth again is nothing but an incredible invention to help keep both our atmosphere clean and water the earth.  As King David noted in Ecclesiastes 1: 7, ‘All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.’ God has this enormous watering can and drops by once in a while to keep our lawn green.  What he does with rain would take hours and hours with your local hose or watering can!  And the clouds that form during this water cycle can be so beautiful as the sun breaks through or turns them various colors at sunrise or sunset.  Why did He make them so beautiful?

Because cleansing is beautiful!  We pay a lot of attention to cleansing.  We wash our cars.  Washing your car is a matter of safety.  You need to be able to see out the windows and use your mirrors.  We clean our houses to maintain order in our lives, so we can find our car keys; to minimize the build- up of hazards like bacteria, mold and mildew.  We clean our bodies and rightly so!  Our bodies build up sweat, oils and dirt on our skin every day.  And, whether you are aware of it or not, we are not alone.  Bacteria live on our skin and produce waste that they deposit.  This waste can leave you a bit smelly over time.  These bacteria can also be transferred to your mouth and cause internal problems.  We all share toilets which harbor germs.  That plus Covid 19 has really placed an emphasis on washing our hands religiously!

All this cleansing is good, as John Wesley said, ‘cleanliness is next to Godliness’, but it is temporal.  Do you ever think about the necessity of cleansing your soul?  The cleansing of your soul as promised in the scriptures is ETERNAL! Which is more important?

1 John 1:9 says, ‘If we confess our sins, He (Jesus) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to CLEANSE US from all unrighteousness.’ NKJV.  Unlike the water cycle, this cleansing of our soul is instantaneous and eternal! When you are cleansed, you will understand why He made the clouds so beautiful.  And your life will be full of color like the clouds at the rising and setting of the sun and His light will shine through you for all to see!!

In the words of a song written by Nancy Henigbaum and performed by Nancy Honeytree:

‘Clean before the Lord I stand
And in me, not one blemish does He see.
When I placed all my burdens on Him
He washed them all from me.