…wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psalm 51:7 KJV
The opening extract from the verse reference above is telling us something all by itself. But let me have your attention for a few minutes to share a tale and a teaching.
There was a time when all the children resided under one roof during the summer months. Two of the seven where in the 4-5 year old range and one was still in diapers. The other three were between the ages of 10-16. The father remembers those days well because he volunteered, yes on his own volition, to take responsibility for doing the laundry. As you can imagine, with his wife still working, she had her hands full when she came home. So as a good mate, the father managed his time the best he could between work, church, baseball games, and family time. He was not going to back off of his promise to help out around the house. With time limited, he usually waited until Saturday night, late Saturday night after the children went to bed to go to the 24-hour laundry mat to show how he could master doing ALL the laundry in one shot. He did his best, but the older group of children still has memories of special tops being shrunk little by little, week after week, until they qualified as hand me downs. The stories get better over the years about white socks being mismatched, and folded clothes wrinkled to the point where just one ironing effort would not suffice to make the children’s outfits ready to wear, wrinkle free. And, oh yes, there would be some specific recollections of a “few” faded color items from time to time, but let’s blame that on the dryers or at least that’s the father’s story and he’s sticking with it still to this day. The number of loads he would wash would range from 17-20 and that is no exaggeration. He had it down to a science, but trying to keep dryers going while he folded clothes was a challenge that no man could overcome. All in all the children were good sports about it, even making the father laugh to the point of crying when their “What happened Dad” analysis of his launderer expertise was expressed. While at the laundry mat he would ask: “Why so much laundry?” He didn’t do any intentional study, but he observed that on weekends the children would change clothes multiple times in the same day! The father would typically wear the same thing all day, but the children could go through 3-4 outfits a day and in his mind, they were not even dirty. The father learned to live with and really appreciate their reasons for wanting to take off one outfit and put on another. He understood that they had rational reasons for what they were doing. The children saw changing as something necessary to be presentable as defined by varying situations.
There’s your long tale, now here is your little teaching that will go a long way. As believers, we need to follow the children in the tale’s example when it comes to how we present ourselves in the world. As believers, we should find ourselves constantly, consistently changing our spiritual beings to be presentable as a child of God, “as defined by varying situations. We don’t have to develop our own rationale though. We just need to refer to the word of God, read it, rely on it, and redress our behavior from a Christian perspective. God is the incomparable, supreme Launderer and through His word, He can make you look brand new and at your best at all times. Re-read the telling, enjoy the tale, but engage your mind to focus on the teaching too. Have a great Monday and be blessed!
Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
Ephesians 4:22-24 NLT
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King