Cleansing Power

If there's one modern appliance that I most definitely could not live without, it's my washing machine.  I am never, and I do mean never, caught up on laundry.  In nearly every room in my house, there are piles of laundry in various stages of completion.  Some are dirty, some are washed but need folded, and some are folded, waiting to be put away.  Laundry everywhere!  I've sometimes thought that disposable clothing would be the way to go.  Wear it once, dirty it up, and throw it out.  What a waste that would be.  Thankfully, I have a great washing machine.  It seems that no matter the amount of dirt or the severity of the stain, my washing machine has a cycle that will take it out.  My favorite cycle is the "sanitize" cycle.  It utilizes the hottest water and the longest washing time possible, removing any germs that otherwise might have lingered on the clothing, causing it to retain odors and stains.  It's a marvelous thing.

Today, as I was loading my washing machine, I was thinking about how the Atonement is very similar to my favorite "sanitize" cycle.  As mortal beings, we are very prone to mistakes.  Nephi put it this way:

O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men; yea, how quick to hearken unto the words of the evil one, and to set their hears upon the vain things of the world.

Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom's paths! (Helaman 12:5-6)

He then goes on, for many verses, describing the infinite power of God to punish us according to his will.

And if the Lord shall say - Because of thine iniquities thou shalt be cut off my my presence - he will cause that it shall be so.

And wo unto him to whom he shall say this, for it shall be unto him that will do iniquity, and he cannot be saved; therefore, for this cause, that men might be saved, hath repentance been declared.(Helaman 12:21-22)

Just like my laundry, each of us at a different stage in the repentance process.  Some of us are at the beginning, while others are just finishing up.  And just like my laundry, we will never be completely caught up.  There is always something we can improve upon.  Without the Atonement, we may as well be like disposable clothing - tossed away after our first stain.  What a waste that would be!  But because Jesus Christ atoned for our sins - all of them - we can be cleansed over and over through the process of repentance, and come out on the other side perfectly clean.  Now that is a marvelous thing.

©Darrell Wyatt

Click here to read what I read today: Helaman 12