Term vs. Perm: Which is right for you?

Some years ago, while in Williamsburg, Virginia, I had the privilege of sitting in on a teaching session led by Corrie ten Boom. Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch Christian author and speaker, who was known for her efforts to hide Jews from arrest and deportation during the German occupation of the Netherlands, during World War II. This led to her imprisonment in a concentration camp, and loss of family members who died and were mistreated while in Nazi captivity. Her strong faith saw her through these trying times and she had many stories to tell of God’s love and protection.

In this particular teaching session, Corrie was focusing on what hate, unforgiveness, lack of love, and a multitude of sins can do to a person’s inward being. She used an old flashlight, filled with filthy rags as her tool in making her point. When she tried to turn on the old flash light filled with filthy rags, which represented sin, it would not show any light. Then she emptied the flashlight of the filthy rags and replaced them with a new battery. The battery represented the Holy Spirit. The light shined brightly!

Her message reminded me of one of my favorite Psalms, Psalms 51:10-12: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.”

These verses are part of the prayer of repentance that David made to God after realizing the extent of his sin with Bathsheba. He is asking God to cleanse his heart and restore a faithful spirit within him. He asks that God restore joy to him which he lost through sin. God heard David’s prayers and He hears our prayers.

Thank you God for hearing our prayers of repentance, and freeing us through Christ, from the filthy rags of sin so the light of your Holy Spirit can shine brightly through us to your Glory!

Jan Knicely, Associate in

Ministry Emeritus

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church