Joy in the Clean

I was cleaning my bathroom today for the first time in a long time (and by long, I mean too long. WAY too long), and the Lord blessed me with two thoughts. I share:

1) When King David says in Psalm 51: "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me", he is asking quite a big thing! Many times we look at this Psalm as simply a "confessional" Psalm, one that we should pray when we have sinned. While that is true, this captures the essence of the word "repentance", which means to not just confess, but to turn from your ways! To do a complete 180 from the direction you were headed (in your sin) and turn towards the Lord, walking the straight and narrow! Wow!

When David asks the Lord to create in him a pure heart, he's asking the Lord to take away ANYTHING that would not be pure in his heart. Still not grasping it? Check it out: think of all the "fun" things in life that are kinda borderline worshiping the Lord/not worshiping the Lord. David is asking them to be taken away. David wants to live an active pure life, not just passively trying to avoid dirtying his heart. What a request. A good friend of mine recently said, in response to a Jonathon Edwards quote: "Resolved, never to do anything which I would be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life.", that a part of her doesn't want to get to the point Edwards did because of the selfish nature vying for ownership in her life. I completely concur when looking at David's request to the Lord, for in asking this I'll be asking Him to remove all impurity in my life, and that would involve things that I find "borderline", for God's not at all about the borderline. No, He spits out "lukewarm" water (Revelations 3:16). This is where we have to take that leap of faith and say "God, I am COMPLETELY Yours. Create in me a pure heart and renew a spirit that is steadfast for living a pure life..." There are no eternal downsides to taking this step. Let's do it.

2) When I first looked at my bathroom and saw the gross dirt and grime everywhere, I was not looking forward to the job.

To be perfectly honest, the previous occupant had clogged the toilet, unbeknownst to me, so when I flushed the toilet a tidal wave of disgusting water invaded our already terrifyingly repulsive bathroom floor. As I rushed around, grabbing what I could (while preserving the "purity" of my bathroom towels) to stop the onslaught of horrifying wave, I came to the realization that I would have to clean the floor finally.

I began the task with a heavy spirit, for I was about to leave to work on a project and wasn't planning on using my time in this way. But as the task was being completed, I had a growing excitement at the beauty of the (significantly more) clean bathroom. What a difference a half-hour of time can make in a bathroom's cleanliness!

All of this I'm paralleling to our lives and the way Jesus cleans us "whiter than snow" (Psalm 51). What a joy I found the clean bathroom to be! I believe that Jesus has the same joy whenever we repent of our sin and He cleanses us "whiter than snow". Sure, the task looks tough in the beginning and we may not particularly want to (His prayer before His arrest: Luke 22:42), also, we see that the bathroom will get dirty again, probably very soon (we sin even after we're cleaned). But when Jesus cleans us of the "dirt" and "grime" in our hearts, what joy He must have knowing that we are now ready to serve Him in purity and holiness, with a clean heart.

Be encouraged! And pass it on.