We have been painting our house. Over the last month or so, we’ve painted the entire main floor, ceilings and all. In a three week period over the summer, we painted most of the upstairs. I love painting, but not just for the instant gratification it provides. I love how it reminds me of the gospel.

The transformation is amazing: to watch scuffed, dirty, ugly-colored, wallpaper-scarred walls miraculously become fresh and clean with a couple coats of new paint. It makes such a difference. As I watch smudges and stains disappear behind strokes of fresh paint, I try to remember Isaiah 1:18:

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.”

The way paint covers up my stained walls is a faint picture of what the death of Jesus does for us: his blood covers over the stain of our sin, leaving behind a fresh, clean coat of… forgiveness.

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