I live in a small apartment so, most of the time, it looks like a department store threw up in my home. Baskets of laundry, papers and book bags, toys, diapers, and baby supplies everywhere. My apartment is a disaster due to busy schedules and sardine living.
Samantha wanted to have a couple friends from school stay at our apartment. I had to tutor after school that day, we had soccer practice and I led a Bible study that night. To top it off, Nick had a meeting and wouldn't be home till late so we had no time to prepare our pigsty for habitable living let alone to be inhabited by guests. It was messy and uninviting due to its lack of organization and filth from quick meals and rushed escapes.
Samantha stayed home with Lucas and Lily while I went to Bible study and Nick had his meeting. We told our children if they don't clean up, no friends could come over because we didn't have time to clean up before they arrived. I expected my children would pick up while we were gone. God has blessed Nick and I with amazing kids that love each other and understand the importance of lending a helping hand. I wasn't prepared though for what I saw when I returned.
I got back later than I expected and I opened the door to our apartment. The results of their hard work was incredible. Beds made, floors vacuumed and swept, counters cleaned, dishes done and put away, toys pick up and organized. They mopped the bathroom floors and wiped off the mirrors, they even organized the toothbrushes. The house looked amazing and smelled amazing too. I was in awe of their hard work and a little emotional as I processed the effort and care that went into our home while Nick and I were away. They led me through each room and described in detail what they had done. I praised my children and hugged them as I told them how much I appreciated their hard work and the efforts they took to turn our pigsty into a beautiful living space.
After I tucked my children into bed I rocked sweet Stella and reflected on the events of the evening. I was overwhelmed with gratitude not only for my children but for my God. I wondered if that's how God feels about us when we "clean room in our hearts" for Him. When we lovingly scrub the dirt and grime left by sin and we proudly display all the gifts given by God in the rooms of our heart, how proud our Heavenly Father must be of us.
Praise God through Christ our sins are forgiven. He takes our sin away and chooses to remember it no more, but the clean up from the devastation of sin, we must lend a helping hand and repair ourselves. By humbling ourselves and going to the ones we have wronged and asking forgiveness we begin to clean up the mess sin leaves behind. When we accept responsibility for our actions and repay our debts to the ones we have cheated, lied, or taken advantage of God's ultimate love and forgiveness that is shown to us is displayed for others to see. Just like a child displays the end product of a job well done, we too should display the clean up process of sin so that others can see and glory can be given to our Heavenly Father.
In this transparency, we are showing a powerful testimony of God's goodness to sinners. Our God longs to restore and repair the lives of mankind but we must be willing to allow Him into the pigsty of a heart inhabited with sin. The clean up process is a powerful testimony to those that do not know Him.
Sin can hoard our lives to full capacity and destroy our relationships so the only thing that can inhabit is shame, guilt, and pain. But when we allow the One who specializes in removing sin to come in and begin the clean up process, we are given a fresh coat of paint and a second chance. We can pitch out the old habits and box up the hurts from our past for Jesus to come and take away forever. A testimony of a life engulfed by sin and restored by grace is very powerful.
So I celebrate tonight the One who specializes in removing sin from our lives. I celebrate the reality that everyone is given a fresh start if they choose to call on Him. I am thankful for the opportunity I have to display the clean up process and show off what Christ does when He moves in. God is so good and I'm so thankful for there is truly nothing more warm and inviting than a clean home.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
~ Pslam 51: 1, 2 & 10
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