Stains

I received an old-fashioned domestic book called Heloise’s Housekeeping Hints that was my great-granmother’s. There are pages and pages about how to get rid of stains on carpet, walls, tile, brick, stoves, fridges, concrete, cotton, polyester, leather, you name it. Thankfully, I have not needed to test all of her suggestions- so far. There is time ahead, though. 🙂

As if we have all read her book, so many times we, Christians, try to get rid of our permanent wine and wafer stain.  How deep is your stain? The longer a stain stays, the more difficult it is to remove. How long have you been stained? Is your stain a true, from the Vine of Life stain, or a secondary pitiful imitation? Taste and see that the Lord is good. Like blueberry on a white countertop, we are marked. Forever. Don’t scrub. You have been made clean. May grape permanently be tasted on your lips and the Bread of Life fill you. 

“I [Jesus] am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” [John 15:1-5]