Whitewashing

 

When I was growing up, my Granny Whitely lived next door to us in a trailer.  No, it wasn’t a mobile home, it was a trailer - it was only eight feet wide and thirty-five feet long.  Every spring, she would mix up some slaked lime, whiting, and water, and whitewash the beech tree trunks in her yard.  If I asked, she would let me help.  I have no idea why she whitewashed the trees, but she just did.  I never asked her why, so I just did it too.  She had to do it every spring because the whitewashing didn’t last.  It would look nice for a few weeks, but the rain would eventually wash it away.  In the Old Testament, the priests would offer sacrifices for the people.  But the people would have to come back to have the priest to offer the same sacrifices again the next year.  The animal sacrifices only atoned for their sins for one more year.  But the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary was different.  Jesus was God’s perfect Son and Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for all of our sins, once and for all!  The writer of the book of Hebrews says in Hebrews 10:12, “But this man, (Jesus) after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.”  Through Jesus Christ, our sins are paid for forever!  Praise the Lord!