Getting Clean To Take A Bath – Part I
Luke 15th Chapter
11Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons.
12The younger one said to his father, `Father, give me my
share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. 13"Not
long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant
country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14After
he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and
he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to
a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He
longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one
gave him anything. 17"When he came to his senses, he
said, `How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am
starving to death! 18I will set out and go back to my father
and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19I
am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’
20So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was
still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for
him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21"The
son said to him, `Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no
longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22"But the father
said to his servants, `Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring
on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened
calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24For
this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So
they began to celebrate.
This week our text tells of a very familiar parable — the prodigal son. In
our text we see two sons. The younger son said to his father, "give me my
share of the estate." The father did and that son went off into another
country and spent all of his money on wild living while the older son stayed at
home and worked for his father.
After hitting "rock-bottom" the younger son decided to come back
home, but he felt that it would not be easy. Therefore, he prepared a wonderful
"coming home" speech in which he would say, "Father, I have
sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your
son; make me like one of your hired men" (18th & 19th). You see, the
prodigal son tried to clean himself up to come home, not realizing that all he
had to do was JUST COME HOME — THE FATHER WOULD CLEAN HIM UP WHEN HE GOT
THERE!!
So now feeling "prepared" to come home with the "coming home
speech" in hand, he started home. The 20th verse tells us that the father
SAW him while he was still a long ways off. And when the father saw him, he ran
to the son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. Now this was before the
son had given the father the, "I have come home speech." But hey…
he had written it, he had edited it, and he had rehearsed it… Bless God, he
was going to give his old man this speech no matter what!!! Even though his
father had welcomed him back with open arms, the son still had this Emmy award
winning, Oscar nominated speech that he had to give, so he gave it. However,
the thing we should take note of is that the father didn’t even acknowlege what
the son said; he gave more credence to the son’s action of coming home.
Even after the Pulitzer Prize speech, the father didn’t skip a beat. He was
too caught up in restoring the son to his former status. He was giving charge
over the angels, ooops…. I meant servants, telling them, "QUICK bring
the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his
feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.
For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is
found."
Some of you who receive these messages do not have the salvation of Jesus
Christ because you think that you’ve got to get cleaned up to come to Him. Some
of you say, "Well, once I get this area straightened out then I’ll be
ready to come." Others say, "Well, once I work this out, then I’ll be
ready to come." To put it in the words of Cliff Millender, a.k.a D.J.
Light, "You don’t have to get clean to take a bath." Just think about
that. How much "prep" do you do to take a bath. Do you take your wash
cloth and scrub down before you get into the tub? Do you make sure that all the
dirt is off you before you shower? Of course not. You take the bath to get
clean, and the same goes for salvation. You get saved to get "cleaned
up;" you don’t get "cleaned up" to get saved.
For those you who are trying to get clean yourselves up, this is what the
Lord says:
"There is nothing that you yourself can do to improve your position
before me. You do not intimately know me and I do not intimately know you —
but I desire to. All I want you to do is simply come. Come to me so that I can
love you and intercede for you. It is not my desire to cast you away. It is my
desire to draw you near to me — to protect you and care for you and to be your
Saviour and Lord. Destruction and doom are not manifestations I have for you. I
have peace and prosperity, deliverance and joy which are stored up for you if
you would just come to me. I love you more than you will ever know. More than
the things that are holding you back from me. More than a world that used you
up and disgarded you. More than anyone or even you could ever imagine. And even
though I have charge over the angels and even though I have ALL POWER, I can
not save you unless you come to me. I love you so so much. I only want you to
come to me where you belong."
If you want to accept Jesus as your Saviour this day and get "cleaned
up" then pray this prayer:
"Lord, I come before You a sinner not knowing You. I ask Your
forgiveness of my sins and I want You to clean me up. I want You to wipe away
every bad thing that has separated me from You and I want to make You my Lord
and Saviour. I do believe that You died for my sins and it was Your death that
wipes away my sins. This day, I know now that because of Your sacrifice I am
clean, I am holy, and I am set apart for You. Thank You Jesus, for saving my
soul from hell and saving my life from torment, wrath and destruction. This day
is my new beginning and today I know that I know that I know that I am Yours
and You are mine."
