It’s hard to wear white …

“The plane, boss! The plane!”

Do you know the name of the television show on which a character would say that line during each episode?

If you guessed “Fantasy Island” you would be right.

A character by the name of “Tattoo” would say the line to his boss, Mr. Roarke (both pictured to the right), as a plane would prepare to land on the island that Roarke served as the mysterious host of. Waiting for the plane to land, both Roarke and Tatoo looked sharp in suits that were all white except for their ties.

I’m talking spotless white suits, including white shoes.

Not a speck of dust on their pant legs, shirt sleeves or anything.

And I’ve never understood how people do that.

It’s hard to wear white!

I actually like wearing white, such as a crisp white shirt (that’s me, to the left, in a white shirt years ago in the Philippines). But, inevitably, I wind up getting a spot of something on my white. Just sitting somewhere and possibly putting my sleeve down on a place that had a little dust would soil the look. I’ve never understood those people who can wear white all day long and not get a single spot on them!

Life is often more like my experience with white. We start our days well enough, making time to say hello to our Creator and spending time in His Word and in prayer to Him. We get a good launch into our day, but as we make our way through it, we get a little spot on ourselves.

We sin.

Sometimes we immediately respond to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and confess the sin, repenting of it and move on through our day.

Sometimes, we’re a spotted mess by the end of the day.

It can be hard to “wear white” well, to go unspotted for long.

But that is the encouragement and challenge that James makes to believers. The New Living Translation records James’ insight for us like this …

“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you,” James 1:27.

The New American Standard Bible phrases James’ words to us this way …

“Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world,” James 1:27.

Keeping ourselves “unstained by the world” is kind of like trying to wear white. How can we do it?

One day a young minister was being escorted through a coal mine. At the entrance of one of the dim passageways, he spied a beautiful white flower growing out of the black earth.

“How can it blossom in such purity and radiance in this dirty mine?” The preacher asked.

“Throw some coal dust on it and see for yourself,” his guide replied.

When he did, he was astonished that the fine, sooty particles slid right off the snowy petals, leaving the plant just as lovely and unstained as before. Its surface was so smooth that the grit and grime could not adhere to it. Our minds and hearts should have the same characteristic. Just as that flower could not control its habitat, so we cannot help it that we have to live in a world filled with evil. But God’s grace can keep us so clean and unspotted that, though all kinds of things touch us, they will not cling to us.

Have you been struggling to keep yourself unspotted, or unstained, from the world? Make the following verses — words pleaded by King David — your own prayer today …

“Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just. For I was born a sinner — yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there. Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me — now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me,” Psalm 51:1-10.

Scotty