Have you ever thought of how sad and miserable the life of a leper must have been? In Old Testament Israel, a person suffering from this dreaded disease was considered an outcast – cut off from any contact with his own community. Leviticus 13 lists the requirements demanded for the segregation of the leper. He was isolated in a camp outside the town. The leper had to assume the awful “badges” of his disease, which meant he tore his clothes, bared his head, and put a white cloth over his upper lip. From beneath that mask would come the anguished cry, “Unclean! Unclean!”
What a vivid picture of the awful effects of sin! Because of our sinful conduct, we are unclean – unfit to fellowship with God. We are outcasts – not permitted to enter His presence. The disease if sin affects us all. Every person on earth is in dire need of being cleansed from sin. Unless that happens the sinner remains alienated – sentenced to everlasting suffering in a place that separates him from God.
The songwriter Robert Lowry asked the question that everyone must ask, “What can wash away my sin?” The answer, found in 1 John 1:7, is that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Yes, cleansing is available for the sinner who will place his trust in Jesus’ sacrificial death and glorious resurrection.
Praise God! Through the blood of Jesus we can be made clean! – Paul R. Van Gorder
The Savior is waiting to save you
And cleanse every sin-stain away;
By faith you can know full forgiveness
And be a new creature today! – H. G . Bosch
Sin’s contamination requires the Savior’s cleansing.
- June 8, 1988, Our Daily Bread
For You 