Scrubbing the Grime

Nobody likes cleaning the bathroom and if you have a glass shower door, nothing seems to attract and accumulate soap scum worse than glass.

We have a glass shower door and we learned fast that if care isn't taken to keep ahead of keeping it wiped down, eventually the door clouds up and nothing is visible.

For all I know sometimes, there could be a shoe hungry puppy on the other side enjoying a meal out of my favorite pair of sandals and all I see is this moving dark blob.

It takes a lot of elbow grease, a sandblaster and luck to get built up soap scum up. I'm not even going to even discuss the little areas that a regular rag can't reach. There are times, I think it's just easier to buy a brand new door but it doesn't work like that. It takes time and dedication and sometimes, reluctant, willingness to just grab a rag and start scrubbing.

I've thought about just hooking up a power wash and wonder why bother, it's going to get dirty again, but the reason is in the choice.

I can either live with it and close my eyes and just try to make out those hazy images or get my cleaning supplies and clean it. Cleaning always wins out. In a sense, making that choice to have an active and daily relationship with Jesus Christ serves the same idea.

We can allow all the sin and ugliness of the world build up in us and do nothing about it, but eventually the dirt and the grime begins to build up and we began to wear down.

It's hard to feel bright and cheery when a simple wash rag isn't enough to get all the dirt off. However, we can make the choice to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and part of that is keeping up "house" and allowing our Heavenly Father to provide a means to help us work toward a better life.

I find that as long as I actually take the time to use either a wet rag or cleaner, the shower door will remain clear.This is a good thing as well, because after all, you never know when you might end up in an Alfred Hitchcock movie and a clear glass shower door is handy. Well that and a baseball bat.

God seeks to cleanse us from the build-up of sin and impurity in our lives but it doesn't mean that we will become completely perfect. Even the shower door, as much as I clean it, will not be as clean as it was before we bought the house, however we have a better basis to work off of.

John 17:16-19 (NIV)-They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify^[ them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

We all have some type of grime that seems to weigh us down and block our view. Although we are "reborn" when we have a relationship with Jesus Christ, when we look in the mirrors, we are still the same person we were before we have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Our hair, our bodies, our lives, our bills, everything is still there.

Wake up tomorrow and the trouble of the worlds is still be there. We will still say the wrong things or do the wrong things. Bills have to be paid and he sink will still clog.If you have a new puppy like me, he will still have no clue that carpet isn't grass, however there is hope in Jesus Christ.

When we take the time to read God's word, to reflect on His word and to study, it's like maintaining a daily "cleansing routine". We're not always going to get it right and God doesn't expect us to be perfect but He wants us to not give up on having a personal relationship with Him and part of that is allowing Him to live in and through us. The only person who is perfect is Jesus Christ.

I was reading where sanctification was described as having the experience of getting a bath and in a way that makes sense.

After you take a bath and your hands get dirty, you don't go and take another bath (unless you're a clean freak or just love baths that much), but instead we turn on the water, wash our hands with soap and go on with the day. We do the same as "maturing Christians".

We're not always going to get it right and we will slip up and make mistakes, however through the Holy Spirit, we will continually be empowered to get up, and step by step work toward maturing as a believer and as a child of Christ.

Jesus Christ already did the hard work of scrubbing and getting rid of all the dirt and the grime and it's up to us to do our part to just work on maintaining ourselves.

*Whew* It was a relief to finally get the shower door clean but it took an hour and half of steadily working on the door, lots of scrubbing, cleaning, spraying, scrubbing some more, and finally wiping dry with a towel, but the finish product was great.

When you stop and think about it....reading the Bible is almost like it's God's "soap" to keep us clean. It takes time and a lot of work.

Occasional we read a scripture here and there to "wash our hands" but when we need a good bathing, that's where just really reading His word, rejuvenates us, refocus us and it helps provide us with a much needed spiritual cleansing. How often after reading His word does one feel cluttered and dirty? Never.

Our Heavenly Father knows we are imperfect and we will sometimes get a smudge here and there.

So He was prepared.

He gave us ,His word to keep us going forward so when we will fall and get dirty, which we all do, that's when the Holy Spirit comes in. The dirt gets wiped off, we get a , "Good try, don't' give up, keep going" a pat on the back and sent on our way forward.

The shower door was squeaky clean. It was so clear that the poor puppy didn't realize that there was glass between him and I until he ran smack into it. Like me, he could now see through the other side of the door even though he couldn't reach me, he knew I was there like we know God is there.

Taking the time to read His word is having a clear way to know God through His word. If anything, it helps provide a clear passage to hope that is laying on the other side, or in the case of the puppy: A good view of the person on the other though he can't get to me.

*Sigh* Which reminds me. Does anyone has puppy-tongue resistant glass cleaner for shower doors? I have some more cleaning to do. The puppy just licked what use to be a cleaned shower door.

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin."-1 John 1:7

Heavenly Father, I thank You for picking me up when I fall down. Like a newborn babe learning to walk, I'm not always going to get it right, I'm going to say the wrong things and do the wrong things, but You provide me with hope and a promise of a tomorrow.

There are times when I'm going to feel like I'm just covered with mud and I thank You Heavenly Father that wipe off the mud and encourage me to keep moving forward.

Lord, I pray You remind me to keep my head lifted up to You and to remember that I can't always be perfect to the world but in Your eyes, I am what You had created me to be and You never make mistakes.

Help clear my ways and keep it clear so I can see what You lay forward for me, Lord

If there are things in your life blocking your view of what God has laid before you, what ways can you take the time with God to help clear your view of the world so you can be the person God wants you to be?

What other ways through Jesus Christ can you find to help you find strength and encouragement to follow a life of freedom that Christ calls to all of us?

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