Stick with me and my dirty window for a minute.
When the sun rises at my house, this west-facing window is in the shadows overlooking the pasture where my goats graze all day long. I get to see the sun kiss the tops of the trees as it clears the hill and the house, and it feels like the grass is drowsily waking each morning.
From that vantage point, the window looks a little dirty, like it might need some attention soon, but it's not too bad.
As the day goes on, and the sun comes over the house, there hits a time of day when the sun seems to zero in on this window and I can hardly see the pasture for the strength of the rays. That's the time of day when this picture was taken. It's not any dirtier than it was this morning, but in the glaring rays of the late afternoon sun, every spot and blemish is highlighted.
That, my friends, is the same as the state of your soul. All of us know the basics of right and wrong. The black and white dichotomy isn't hard to sort out....but when it comes down to which way you're facing, things get a little more grey.
Imagine the line between right and wrong, sin and holiness if you will, as a literal line. So many people are concerned with which side of the line they are on.....but not which way they are facing. Sometimes people face the side of evil...of sin...trying to get as close to "the line" as they can without crossing it. But in those cases, all the while they are facing wrongness...or sin.
When you are facing the darkness, your window doesn't look "all that bad". There might be a few spots, but it's not really all that dirty and cleaning it can wait. The circumstances seem a little blurrier. The company you keep and the choices you make don't seem that inappropriate.
But what if you turned around? What if you turned and faced the sun (or...the Son)? What would the window of your soul look like then? If you were facing "right" and purity, and God's perfect will for your life...even if you had never crossed "the line", what would you think about your current situation and decisions?
No, you had never crossed the line into sin....but you were facing it. You were focused on it. Your window was in the shadows and your transgressions were minimized because the things around you were "more wrong" than you.
Just as it's hard to stand at my sink washing dishes with the bright sunlight in my face, it seems painful to have the SONlight shone on your transgressions, the spots on your window. The piece we have to remember is that our God is a God of mercy, He wants to bathe us in his love and lead us to the fullness of our created purpose. It's hard to acknowledge our shortcomings and expose them, but when we do, they are wiped clean.
Just as easily as my window was right after I snapped this picture.