Painting on Righteousness

Early this week, my SIL, Ryan came with his family and did the lion’s share of the work involved in painting the walls of our living-room, hallway and dining room.  The guy was a non-stop painting machine for the entire day and had hardly a drop of paint on him at the end of his work.  The walls, now covered in “Whispering Pine” and “Sawdust” are, to the casual glance, pristine landscapes over which the little green spiders (already strolling), and the soon appearing house-flies will enjoy roaming.  To the observer who cares to look more closely, however, one will find evidence of the nail and screw holes that were filled, the joints that were clumsily covered years ago by the builder of this house and the cracks that have been masked.  The flaws are myriad and the fact of the matter is that they can never be covered sufficiently to hide them from one who looks closely.  But, when was the last time you visited someone’s home and looked closely at the walls to inspect them for flaws?

In the spiritual realm, there are many who seek, by various means, to cover over the flaws in their character and other evidences of the underlying  sin nature.  To the un-discerning eye, they appear clad in a fresh new layer of their own brand of righteousness.  The difficulty, of course is that when examined closely and measured by the Divine standard, the thin veneer of self-righteousness is found to be insufficient to cover the flaws of the sin nature.  It was the prophet who told us that when it comes to gaining approval of God, “all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.”

As I watch the green spiders explore the new landscape, seeing up close the flaws lying close beneath the surface I’ll rest secure in the knowledge that the Divine eye finds me clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ which is mine by faith in Him.