Lord of cleansing,
You gave Israel a strange command,
a red heifer without blemish,
slaughtered outside the camp,
its ashes mixed with water
to purify the unclean.
Who could have imagined
that ashes and water
could cleanse defilement?
Yet You are the God
who makes the unclean clean,
who opens a way for the defiled
to dwell with the Holy One.
O God, how I need such cleansing.
Sin clings to me like dust,
death touches me in a thousand ways,
and I cannot wash it off.
My hands grow guilty,
my heart feels stained,
my conscience bears the weight of shame.
But You have made a greater way:
Christ, who suffered outside the camp,
whose blood purifies more than ashes,
whose cross makes clean
what no ritual could restore.
Father, let His blood be sprinkled on me.
Wash me with living water,
deeper than outward cleansing,
stronger than ritual signs.
Let me be purified
not only in body,
but in spirit,
in thought,
in desire.
Make me holy,
for You are holy.
You warned that without cleansing,
one remained cut off,
unfit for Your presence.
So too, Lord, without Christ,
I am cut off
without hope,
without life.
But in Him,
I am welcomed,
I am restored,
I am made new.
Lord, remind me daily
that holiness is not optional,
that purity is not peripheral.
Keep me from growing casual
with the stain of sin.
When I touch death,
teach me to run quickly to Christ.
When I feel unclean,
draw me near to the fountain of His blood.
Let me not stay outside the camp of Your presence,
but enter with confidence,
washed and renewed.
So today I pray
Cleanse me, O God,
from hidden faults.
Purify me from secret stains.
Wash me whiter than snow
until all that remains
is the reflection of Your glory.
And let my life declare to a world of dust and death
There is a fountain,
there is a sacrifice,
there is a Savior
who makes the unclean clean.
In the name of Jesus,
the One who died outside the camp,
the eternal cleansing for my soul,
Amen.