Among my other duties today at work I was polishing silver again. It is interesting to see pieces that accidently got placed in the wrong storage area, subsequently out of sight for extended periods of time between rentals, burnished seemingly beyond all hope of restoration. For some pieces, this is truly the case. They are so exposed to the decay of the elements surrounding them that they have become so oxidized that they don't respond to the cleansing properties of the tarnish remover. Some respond quite well, and come clean with such a shiny luster that their former appearance is soon forgotten.
People are like that too. I'm glad that I have a Savior, Who with His cleansing blood took away the deep old tarnish of my heart and made me into something new.