Covering Up

I have been doing some spring cleaning and weeding out...both inside and out.  Tommy and I spent some time in the yard these past few evenings, pulling up diseased bushes and replanting healthy ones. He did all the digging and I did all the shopping and delegating. Works for me.  No, really I did all the replanting and mulching all the while keeping a close eye to make sure he did not pass out on the lawn.  He will turn sixty-five in August and almost everyday in the mail, there is a healthcare brochure reminding him of his impending milestone. We are not spring chickens anymore.  I digress.
Inside the house, I am touching up walls, baseboards, doors, and molding with fresh paint.  In the process I made a discovery.  White paint covers dust and fingerprints quite nicely.  If only we could cover our sin this easily.  After all, doesn't Jesus wash us 'white as snow?'  Won't our garments be clean and sparkly?  Hmmm.  Yes, but only after repentance and forgiveness take place.  I became convicted.  I am covering up dirt on the wall that I am too lazy to wash off.  Those magic erasers work really easy on things like this, often eliminating the need for paint.  I stopped and changed my game plan.
We often cover up our sins that way, too - burying them beneath good works, polite actions, and sweet words or calling them mistakes and making lame excuses (that no one believes), rather than confessing to the One who makes all things new every day with His mercies...no paint needed at all. No one sees our ugliness on the inside but God.  It gets pretty nasty in there - all that dust and grime covering more dust and grime.
Spending a little time with a sponge and bucket of sudsy water would be best for my house.
Spending time before the Lord will work wonders for me.
Psalm 32:5  I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. 
Revelation 3:5  The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.