Scrubbing It Away
Ephesians 5:26 Amplified Bible (AMP)
26So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word,
Today my husband was off from work and every day that he is off from work, we have a list of things to accomplish as it concerns the house. Today it was the deck. After years of the deck going without being treated with stain and weather resistant and the normal exposure the weather and the elements, the deck had become stained and mold and mildew had settled on the deck. It was hard to tell what color the actual wood was; but my husband understands the nature of what it takes to get rid of this discoloration and to clean up what had settled on the wood and become the result of years of being beaten by the weather and elements, it was something as simple as bleach and water and a scrub brush. Some areas were very resistant and we had to scrub much harder and required more bleach treatment than others.
As we worked side by side, it dawned on me that this wood was a lot like we are. We come to God with a lot of things stuck to us, things that are the result of years of wear and tear. For some it is the behaviors, cultural and environmental pressure and attitudes that we were raised in that have taken up residence in us. We have become stained by and developed ugly attitudes, behaviors, mistrust, anger, malice, negativity and many other things settle in us and on us it is when we encounter God and the precious blood of Jesus we are meet with the bleach that can wash us, purify and cleanse us from all that is covering up the truth of who we are to created to be. As we encounter the Word of God that is the scrub brush that should uncover the truth and the fiber and depth of who God formed us to be and created us to be, and who God can use in the advancement of His kingdom. It was when we are scrubbed and cleaned that we uncovered the true fiber and color of the wood that is what God’s desire is to do with us. He wants to make us as Hezekiah Walker wrote, “Clean Inside,” and to show forth His Glory within us.
For some of us it will be a singular process, because we do not have layers of wear and tear on us and we are not covered with heavy layers of hurt, distress, sin and iniquity; but for many of us who have years of wear, years of crud that has settled and developed in our lives the process can be continuous, our healing, deliverance, cleansing and wholeness comes through repetitive reinforcement through sitting under the teaching and preaching of the Word of God, through prayer, meditation and encouragement through studying and searching the scriptures and allowing God to “create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us,” ( Psalms 51). For some of us God will have to not just need to scrub, but just as when wood is seriously damaged that portion may have to be cut out and replaced , He may have to go deep and cut away those event, and those habit, attitudes and behaviors that are threatening the rest of who He proclaimed us to be.
Just as today was a day that we tackled a large job of cleaning up years of damage, today is a perfect day for God to begin in us a work that cleans us from the inside out and reveals the truth of who He can be in us and through us. God’s Got His Bleach and scrub brush ready. He is ready to clean you, transform you, but the question is, are you ready to be clean and to be seen in the true light of God’s light?
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