WASHED BY LOVE

On this particular day I was thinking about how we enter the Kingdom (which is Jesus) when we are weighed down by sin and a sinful nature.

Suddenly, in the Spirit, I see a woman. She’s just standing there, not in any particular setting. She is covered with scabs, dirt, and filth. The stench of rough living clings to her like a hardened shell. What does she have to bring with her besides her love for Jesus?

Then I see her prison of filth and dirt suddenly fall away from her like a cloak. Stepping out she moves forward as a pure and weightless being in a white dress. She is so light and free that she’s almost translucent.

Now I see her standing in the Kingdom, in the clearing by the river that runs at the bottom of the craggy mountain. Jesus takes her in his arms and holds her tightly against him. Then turning, he takes her hand. Leading her out into the river they move through the water until she’s chest deep. Jesus begins washing her. He is gentle and thorough. Every move is with a sense of purpose. Every touch is one of love. His eyes are focused solely on her.

Last of all he washes her long, dark hair. Standing behind her he lathers it well, his strong, gentle hands working out the dirt. Placing his fingers at the edge of her scalp above her forehead he pulls his fingers back through her hair.

When Jesus is finished the woman leans her head back and rinses her hair. Then quickly she submerges herself completely under the water for one, final rinse, emerging washed and clean. Taking her hand again, Jesus walks with her up out of the water and back into the clearing.

My physical day is busy but before I fall asleep that night I again look for them. She and Jesus are sitting in the clearing by the river on large rocks, each eating a pastry. It’s messy and they’re laughing.

She belongs to him and she is in his Kingdom now.

I had never thought about conversion itself being a baptism. Water baptism is the physical representation of our conversion moment.

He baptizes us into Himself, by the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 1:30 tells us, “You are in Christ Jesus.” Titus 3:5 verifies it – “He saved us… by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.”

Each one of us look like this woman did before she entered the Kingdom, covered with the dirt and scabs of living with a fallen nature in a fallen world. Then Jesus, after a big hug of welcome, gently, tenderly, and thoroughly washes the filth off of us. Now we are beings of light – clean, pure, and free.

We may come with so little that we’re practically transparent but that doesn’t change that we come.

The river, the washing, the laughter — all of it began with him stepping into our world.

So what does this have to do with Christmas? Everything – this is why he came.