Our 23 year old son, Ben, has a form of high functioning Autism. His lack of understanding some things completely is totally balanced by what he has taught me in the form of patience, insight and thinking outside of the proverbial “box.”  This past Christmas was no exception. To my surprise, he escorted me into the kitchen one morning to show me that he had successfully removed a water stain from the kitchen table that I had resolved to live with after failed attempts of my own.  When asked how he did it, he smiled from ear to ear and said, “With the magic eraser.”  With much praise and thanks from me, he continued about his day.  However, Ben was not yet through exploring the capabilities of the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.
     For those of you are not familiar with the Magic Eraser, it is a white sponge which has the “magic” ability to remove marks on walls, floors, obviously tables, and well, just about anything.  Ben went on to test the limits of the Magic Eraser when, unbeknownst to me, he used it to remove a scratch on one of his new Christmas DVD’s.  Do not try this at home!   I was so sure that his DVD was ruined, however, after a quick check we found that all was well.  The DVD played without problem, and the scratch was gone. He is now convinced that the Magic Eraser can do just about anything.  Needless to say we tried to convince him otherwise.
     God somehow manages to use situations such as these to speak to me.  My mind was quickly shifted to how God had sent Jesus into the world to die on a cross to be the eraser of all of the spots and marks left on my life by sins I had committed.  There was no magic involved, though.  There was pain, blood, sacrifice, love and most important of all, resurrection. And just as Ben did, I too smile from ear to ear as I gaze on my slate washed clean by God’s wondrous love and grace and the blood of Jesus Christ. Because of this I can step into the world each day and let the light of God shine through me without hiding in shame and regret.
     How Satan longs to trick us into thinking that the “stains”  in our lives are too difficult to remove, to keep us focused on the blemishes and “water stains” of our lives instead of living in the glory He has given to us.  With Jesus, erasure is complete and final. Psalms 103:12 of the Bible says,”as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed (erased) our transgressions from us. Today, I will seek to live in the joy of God’s promise to me. Mr. Clean has nothing on my God!