Just when we finish cleaning the house from one end to the other, it is time to start back at the other end. When we finish washing all the clothes we find our family has worn some clothes already and there is more wash to do. We never finish. It doesn’t matter how fast or hard we work we never finish. We get used to the idea and know that it is just part of living. There are some things that just have to be done.
Why do they make clothes hampers so small? It’s hard to find one that will hold 20 loads of laundry. Why don’t they make them to hold all the dirty clothes we have? Why don’t they make washers that will hold 100 lbs of clothes? They design our tasks to do them a little at a time. We can see when the wash needs to be done because it spills out of the hamper onto the floor. That lets us know we should have been doing some all along.
How do we know when we need to clean up our spiritual life? Can we see sins lying around everywhere that need to be forgiven? When we get a big enough pile of sins does it mean we have to go to church? Can they all be forgiven at once or do we have to go several times before they can all be taken away?
The point is not laundry innovation but that some things require maintenance. If our clothes needs cleaning certainly our soul does as well. Do we get dirtier on the inside or the outside during the day? Certainly we need to cleanse our soul at least as often as we clean the clothes we wear. We must learn to take care of our spiritual side.
Maybe it is because we can’t see the sin in our life that we don’t realize the need to get rid of it. If we never saw any dirty clothes we may not see any urgency in doing the wash either. We think of our sin the most when our life is in danger or when things have gone really wrong. We think God is punishing us for what we have done or thought. It may not be punishment from God but just the effects of carrying sin with us. Sin itself does bad things to us.
It is not just the punishment of God, but that sin destroys us. Sin makes us more aware that not everything revolves around us. We become more selfish. Sin makes us not want to hide some things from God and others and so we are secretive and afraid. We try acting to cover up what we really feel and wonder why we are so alone.
Certainly if we carry sin we also carry guilt. If we have guilt we carry stress. We don’t live well with stress or guilt. Sometimes we decide to carry stress that is left from another time. What we need is some major cleansing. It seems overwhelming to come to God with all the sin piled up. It could be dealt with a better way. If we would just ask for forgiveness as often as we put on clean clothes we would be a lot better. Clean clothes and a clean heart. The next time we wash think of washing away our sins and everyone else we need to forgive also. No need in just washing off the stains we put on that shirt. We might as well wash off the stains everyone else got on it also.
Terry Singleton
Pulpit Minister
Sunset Church of Christ
