The Gray Streak

I have a friend who really, really dislikes squirrels. He has trapped and killed a lot of them in his yard. I admit I don’t like them either because of the damage they can do in the attic, yard, and to any bird feeder.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I am on a trip with friends in North Carolina. Yesterday, we drove through a college campus in Brevard. If you don’t know, Brevard is famous for the white squirrel.

The white squirrel here is not an albino. It is white by breed. Legend says they were brought here by a carnival and got loose when a truck overturned.

As I thought about this white squirrel and we watched it run around with a gray squirrel, I couldn’t help but think about the difference in the typical gray squirrel and the pure white one. Isn’t that what we are called to be as Christians in this world? We were once dark, but as Christians God as made us white as snow by cleansing our sins.

At one point while we watched, the gray squirrel chased the white one. Do you ever feel like you’re being chased? Isn’t this what we sometimes feel like as we run from Satan and the life of sin we left behind.

But this white squirrel we saw wasn’t purely white. It had a very faded gray streak that ran from its head to its tail. Perhaps that is what we feel like too? Do you still feel like you’re dirty; there are things you can’t forgive yourself for and you’re still running with that gray streak down your back?

We lessen Christ’s death when we can’t forgive ourselves, but it is very hard to do. I think about Paul in the Bible. Perhaps his ‘thorn in the flesh’ was his inability to completely forgive himself for murdering so many Christians. I am sure he struggled with this too.

All we can do is continually run this life race knowing our gray streak is being continually washed by Christ’s blood.