“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9 NASB)
I know today’s title is one word longer than the seven word guideline given to preachers at one great, theological institution of higher education, but I just went one word over! So, stay with me for a minute. As a teenager I took turns with my older brother when it came to doing the dishes. It did not matter what time I got home from school or an athletic event. It did not matter how much I prayed one of those crisis or genie prayers, petitioning that those dishes would be done when I walked in the door. They were still waiting for me; all the dishes used of the course of the day, including cooking utensils, pots and pans. It did not matter if I had homework for every class on my semester schedule or whether a major report was due the next day; the mess patiently waited for me.
Perhaps that is why I developed the habit of cleaning up my mess while I make it on the days that I cook dinner. For instance, if I make chili, I wash everything I used to prepare the meal and I only have the pot that the finished product of chili is in to clean up after dinner. There is a chance however that it was my mother’s training on how better it is to clean up the mess as you make it. If you are thinking my cleaning up the mess as you make it practice is rooted in some unconscious obsessive-compulsive behavior, maybe, just maybe, you could be right. But I’m not admitting that is the basis for advocating clean up the mess as you make it.
As a child of God, we can take my quick clean up philosophy and apply it to our personal lives. I’m convinced that if we do, it will make things so much better for us and life will be less burdensome or troublesome. If you sin or even consider sinning in the covered up confines of your conscious thoughts, go right to the Lord and ask Him to forgive you and cleanse you. Clean up your mess as you make it! When you actually do sin, come to your senses like the Prodigal Son and return to the Lord rapidly, again confident in the Scripture above, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” And remember we serve a Prodigal God who is a spendthrift in mercy. Then of course, don’t make repenting for the same sin a regular occurrence. Develop a mindset that you will strive to avoid such sin again; definitely don’t think God is fooled by a lack of sincerity. You know you cannot fool God! Clean up your mess as you make it! If you have a relationship issue that you have made a mess, follow Jesus three key principles: love, forgive, and reconcile. Clean up your mess as you make it! If you are married, follow Paul’s inspired advice and don’t let the sun go down on your anger. Clean up your mess as you make it!
Now don’t walk away from reading this focusing on cleaning up your household messes quicker and quite better. No, you walk away determined to live a clean life, but if you make a mess, clean up your mess as you make it! I’m going to be like one of Naaman the Leper’s servant in the “long” passage below. Just in case you don’t take me serious about how to clean up, read it in its entirety! Be blessed!
“When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.” But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage. Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed!’” So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.” (2 Kings 5:8-14 NIV)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King