Cleaning


I DISLIKE cleaning. I’m the person whose room is an “organized chaos”. By that I mean that I know where everything is, but everybody calls it “messy”. I’m also the person who lets the dishes/laundry pile up until nothing clean is left. So, unsurprisingly, I hadn’t cleaned the bathroom in a while. (Side note: I share the bathroom, so I’m not solely to blame here) I tackled the project recently. As expected the bathroom was a little dirty… especially the shower

Disclaimer: Not our actual shower. Stock image.
After taking the picture, I realized just how dirty the shower was. Looking back, there was never a moment where I exclaimed, “Wow! The shower is FILTHY. Let me clean it NOW.” The dirtiness accumulated over time.


Just like sin. Just like MY sin.


Rarely does sin just happen. Usually a slippery slope of events leads to the act. Adultery starts with lustful thoughts and inappropriate conversations/jokes. The thief doesn’t start with grand theft auto. And small lies lead to bigger lies
C'mon... y'all remember this movie
Needless to say, it is very easy to look back and realize the path of destruction and poor decisions that led to sin.

So, how can we keep our shower from getting dirty? Simple. We clean the shower frequently! (Now it makes sense why mom gave us daily and weekly chores…) In regard to our sin nature, REPENT frequently! We will stumble (see Romans 3:23). But we can make an active choice to regularly survey our lives and confess our sins to God. We need to make a habit of doing this regularly – in both good times and bad.

Yes, it is Ron Swanson from Parks & Rec
One such introspective person was Benjamin Franklin. In Nick Offerman’s book “Gumption...”, the second chapter states that Franklin had a list of “virtues”: temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility. Franklin kept a tab of the times he failed to uphold these virtues, in order to recognize his faults and become a better person. If we, like Franklin, take an inventory of our faults and confess them, our showers will stay much cleaner.

Right on. Now leave me alone, Parks & Rec is on.

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