DEFINING “BLOT”
(Recipe: Peanut Butter Apple Rings)

As I think about writing on my blog for the coming year, the idea came to me to take one unusual word from the Bible and write about it, starting with the letter A (I spoke on the word awesome last Sunday) and ending with the word Z. I like to phrase it “An Alphabet Study”. My word for today is “blot.”

When I was a little girl I could entertain myself for a long time with some old fashioned ink, an ink blotter and some paper. I would drop a little ink on some paper and then use a blotter to cover the spot; counting how many times I had to blot it before it would come clean.

Sometimes as I used the blotter, the drop of ink would take on another shape. I would then try to imagine what that shape might be. A flower. A bug. Or something else. You may be thinking, “How weird is that?” and yet for a little girl growing up in the 40’s, there wasn’t a lot to entertain myself with. No iPods, no TV, no x-box…..so we made up our own entertainment which proved to be fun.

The word blot means…. “a spot or stain, esp. of ink on paper” – “obliterate” or ”to wipe away, destroy; to erase or cover up.”

The Bible briefly mentions the word “blot”. It is found in two key passages. I quote from the NLT (New Living Translation).

Ps 51:1 “Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.”

Isa 43:25 "I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.”

Using our definition that a blot is a ‘spot or stain’; as well as meaning ‘erase’, I want to apply this to God working in my life. I can imagine God taking his great big blotter to erase each of our sins, blotting them out, destroying them. Both David and Isaiah plead with God to “blot out their sins”. That should be our plea as well. Our sin keeps us from a holy God, from enjoying eternity in heaven. We need to have our sin blotted out and only God can do that. Our sin is removed when we ask God for forgiveness. When we do, God forgives our sin and our sin is wiped away. Rather than having our sin weigh heavy in our life – once forgiven – we know joy and peace.

Has your sin been removed from your life? Have you allowed God to forgive you? He longs to wipe your slate clean and give you a new start. Will you let him? Remember, Jesus paid for all your sin when he died for you at Calvary. He arose to prove he was the victor over the grave. Ask God to blot out your sin, remove it, forgive it, and experience what a clean heart feels like.

Peanut Butter Apple Rings
1/3 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
4 tsp. honey
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 large red delicious apple
½ cup granola cereal with raisins

Stir peanut butter, honey and cinnamon in small bowl. Peel apple, core and slice apple into rings. Arrange apple rings on serving plates. Spread rings evenly with thin layer of peanut butter mixture. Lightly press granola cereal into peanut butter mixture. Serve immediately.