“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:19
By Bro. John L. Cash, “Country Preacher Dad”
Do you ever run across a new product that’s so good you want to tell everybody about it? Well, that’s how I feel today. I’ve discovered the best household cleanser on earth: “Fels-Naptha Soap.” It’s an old-timey laundry soap that’s been around for more than 100 years, from back in the day when clothes detergent came in big 5-ounce bars.
Because the parsonage we have lived in for almost 25 years is smack-dab in the middle of a pine forest, it means that, when our boys play out in the “yard”, they’re really playing out in the woods. When they hit a baseball, it doesn’t go out into the outfield or a neighbor’s yard, it lands on a poison ivy bush. So the Cash Brothers have been afflicted with poison ivy rash on a pretty regular basis for their entire lives. We have doctored them with remedies from the doctor’s office, but they are expensive. I’m so thankful for the friends that pointed me in the direction of a remedy that’s cheap, cheerful, and totally effective: “Fels-Naptha Soap.”
I had a chance to try out the remedy on my sons just a few days ago, when they both came in complaining of a rash after a busy afternoon of sports in the backyard. I told them both to take showers and to wash the itchy spots with Fels-Naptha. They were much improved, and, after a second shower with the cleanser the next day, they pronounced themselves cured. Fels-Naptha removed the irritating poison ivy oil that was causing the itching.
Since I had this big, beautiful, 5-ounce bar of wonderful soap in my utility room, I wondered if I could use it to clean other things. Yes, yes, yes! I have used it to clean the sink. I’ve rubbed it on laundry to remove grease spots and stains, and I’ve found that it’s the perfect de-greaser for cleaning the barbecue grill. My only complaint is that it works a little TOO well. You need to wear rubber gloves when you’re cleaning with it so that it doesn’t wash all the natural oil off your hands. It gets EVERYTHING really clean.
In daily life, some things need to be cured, and some things need to be cleaned. And in our spiritual lives we bear the marks of the sickness of sin and the stain of guilt. Today’s Scripture (at the top) tells of a spiritual cleanser that’s able to remove the penalty of sin and make us clean from all our shame. St. John says that if we will confess our sins to God, he will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. In another part of the same epistle, he tells us a little more about the subject. “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)
Don’t you feel great when the dishes are clean, your house is clean, and the clothes are, too? Dear mama, come to the Lord today and seek His forgiveness, and you can have the great joy that comes from being cleansed in your heart and your life!
Dr. John L. Cash is the “Country Preacher Dad” *Sing that title to the tune of “Secret Agent Man” He was raised in Stuttgart, Arkansas, and is beginning his third decade of being a country preacher in the piney woods five miles south of the little town of Hickory, Mississippi. He and his lovely wife, Susan, and his sons, Spencer (age 18) and Seth (age 15) live in the parsonage next door to the Antioch Christian Church” (where we used Fels-Naptha on the barbecue utensils after Seth’s birthday party last week). You should write him at extramailbox@juno.com.
WHERE DO YOU BUY THIS SOAP? I’M INTERESTED IN TRYING IT OUT.