Clean Spots

I have three children. When they were younger, the gravitational forces were very strong in our house, pulling food, paper scraps from art projects, and often the children right to the ground. Everything fell. If a child fell, we would scoop her up, kiss her hurts, and go back to playing. But more often than not, the things that fell were sticky. Peanut butter sandwiches, milk, juice, paint, vomit, and anything else that oozes from a child.

We have wood floors in our kitchen and dining room. The spills, water and pee in particular, are hard to find until you step in it. Other times I saw the spill and cleaned it immediately.

After months cleaning the floors while one child was potty training and another just dripped everything, I was at my wits end.

Then God intervened.

After an intense day of cleaning floors, spill by spill, I saw my kitchen in a new light. Literally. The sun came through the window at such an angle that I could see several clean circles on the floor. Clean spots.

It reminded me of... me. I wasn't cleaning the whole room every time there was a spill. I was taking care of the mess at hand. There wasn't time to mop the entire room everytime a sippy cup lost its top. I cleaned the mess and went on with the day.

So, now you're wondering what this has to do with renewal in Christ? Good question!

Clean spots are the daily bible readings, the weekly visits to church, the prayers before meals. The basics.

Washing the whole floor is the commitment to Jesus we make when we attend or lead a bible study. It's the way we embrace a friend in need in prayer. It's tithing a true 10%. It's facing our non-believer friends and announcing the gospel without shame. It's calling Jesus a friend despite the possibility of exile.

So the question I ask is this...How clean is your house? If God came for a visit today and ran His white gloved finger across the mantle, what would He find?