Thurs., July 26, 2018

1 John 2:2 – He is the one who took God’s wrath against our sins upon himself and brought us into fellowship with God; and he is the forgiveness for our sins, and not only ours but all the world’s.

I decided the house needed a good cleaning.

Here’s my routine. The house is picked-up and looks nice most of the time. I’m a stickler about this. But I don’t really “clean” that often. We have hardwood floors. I run the broom and pick -up things big enough to attach to your feet. Yuck. When I see spots, I use a spay cleaner called Bano to clean the floors.

I keep up with the dishes and wipe down the countertops. Noticeable things are taken care of right away. But as far as regular, consistent cleaning, not so much. I wait and do a big cleaning every few months.

Every time I do this, I vow not to wait so long between cleaning. We have a unique chair in the TV room called a snuggler. It’s bigger than a recliner but smaller than a love seat. We sit in this chair all. The. Time. When I move it away from the wall, I discover Hubby Rick’s latest snack of choice. Chips, nuts, pretzels: they are all there.

As I cleaned this week, I thought about how nice the house looks once it is shaped up. I appreciate the clean smell and the sparking floors. When I walk through a completely clean downstairs, my heart sings. It makes me a happy person.

Then I wondered, “Is this how God feels when I finally admit some sin in my life?” It is easy for me to try and hide the things I’m not sure I really want others to be aware of. Rather than dealing with sin, I often put it off and let it pile-up. Then, it feels like a bigger job when I finally turn to God and deal with it.

Some sins are easy for me to acknowledge and let go. Others, like being easily distracted, lazy, thinking I’m usually right, how I deserve more than someone else: these aren’t as easy to let go. It’s easy to think that my sins aren’t as significant as someone else’s, just as it’s easy to think someone else’s house needs more cleaning than my house does. In the end, dirt is dirt. Sin is sin. We choose whether to deal with it in a timelier fashion or to let it hibernate far too long.

Thank goodness we have a God who looks past the grime and gunk more quickly than we do. When we finally do ask for forgiveness, God has already let it go before we aske. Yet, I envision God looking back after we have asked for forgiveness with a smirky smile on God’s face, please we are ready to deal with the junk in our lives.

If you have some cleaning up business that you need to address with God, I pray you’ll find time to do so … soon. Then, look at the clean slate of your life and appreciate how Christ has already taken care of your sin.

For forgiveness, I am grateful.

It is so difficult to understand why Christ was willing to die for our sins. But thank you for this huge gift of grace. Encourage me to tackle the cleaning out of sin on a regular basis in my life. Amen.

Blessings –

Dianne

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