Zechariah 3:1-7
Introduction
Have you ever had a favorite shirt or pair of pants that got an unruly stain? No matter how hard you try and scrub, the stain just won’t come out. But it’s your favorite, so you choose to wear it anyway. You try to cover the stain with a jacket or another article of clothing. Yet those extra garments never seem to do the trick, and the stain just keeps revealing itself through your attempts to cover it up. No matter what you do, the stain just won’t let you look great!
Often, Satan is much like the jacket or clothing. No matter our attempts to hide the stain of sin in our lives, he just won’t let us be great. The devil likes to take believers to court, accusing them of their sin in hopes of bringing divine judgment. The devil’s desire is for us to wear the stain of sin and block us from fellowship with God. Because he knows the character of God, he knows that God won’t fellowship with sin. So, over and over, he reminds us of our stain in hopes that we will feel unworthy of God’s love and too dirty to walk in His name.
The great news is that while we all may have stains, there is a Man who offers “cleaners” for our sins, a Man who can take care of the worst possible stains. Jesus Christ simply asks that you come to Him, acknowledging and repenting of your sins and stains. When God sent His son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins, we all became new. This newness brings us back into spiritual fellowship and gives us the authority to walk in our purpose, footloose and fancy-free. When God cleans us up, He also restores us to spiritual fellowship, authority and usefulness!
Getting Started
- Has there ever been a time that you couldn’t wear something with confidence because it had an imperfection? How did it make you feel?
- Is there something that constantly reminds you of your past? Something that reflects on the time before you were committed to Christ as Lord of your life?
Let’s Get Personal
- How have you seen the devil attempt to use your past to thwart your future?
- Do you still struggle to be free of stains related to past or current sin? What are the stains that the devil won’t allow you to clean off?
- When did you realize that you had a “stain specialist” that would make you clean? How has your knowledge that Jesus frees you from sin and the stains of sin changed the way you live?
Take the Next Step
- What are some accusations from the devil that you have walked in and owned? Have you asked God to make you new from this stain of sin? Choose a passage of Scripture to memorize this week that addresses repentance and restoration.
- In 1 John 1:9, it says that God forgives our sin when we confess our sin. How much has confession been a part of your spiritual walk with the Lord? In what areas of your life do you need to take inventory and ask to be restored? When have you seen someone’s life restored because they confessed to Christ?
- Want to go deeper? Take time to look at the following passages: Psalm 103:7; Job 1:6-16; Luke 22:31-34; 1 John 1:5-10; 2:1-2.
Renew Your Mind
“He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, Remove the filthy garments from him.’ Again he said to him, ‘See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.’”
Zechariah 3:4
