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Listen while you read: "Shall We Gather At The River"1 (Lyrics) |
I bought a new-to-me summer home a few months ago. It has fourteen Venetian blinds! I love being able to look out all those windows, but cleaning the blinds has become a bigger job than I had anticipated. I don't think that they've been washed in years. The previous owners must have hoped that they'd clean themselves somehow. Some slats have brown stains, like someone dashed a cup of coffee at the window. Some are just dusty, but it's dust that's been there for a while.
My neighbour suggested using sanitizing wipes, and they're doing the job, but it's tedious. Each blind has at least three sections, and each slat in each section has to be wiped several times. Some slats need more work than others, and the cords get in the way. I miss some spots and have to redo some of the slats. When I get down to the bottom, I'm tempted to ignore those slats, as they'll be behind the furniture and won't be seen.
While cleaning, I'm thinking about the similarity of this process to the ways that we try to deal with the sin in our lives. Some of our sins have been around for months or years, so we ignore them, hoping that they'll resolve themselves, but the stain on our lives is still there. Some sins seem insignificant; we think that they're nothing to worry about, so we don't bother to confess them. Some sins seem like too much work to deal with, so we mentally set them aside, hoping that they'll quietly go away.
But sometimes, we get our spiritual sanitizing wipes, thinking that we can clean up our lives on our own. Then, we discover how much work that is. We mentally wipe over them again and again, but they persistently pop up in our lives and in our thoughts, draining our energy and affecting our relationship with Jesus and others.
Psalm 32:3-4a,5 – When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. … and you forgave the guilt of my sin. (NIV)
1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (NIV)
If we've confessed our faith in Jesus Christ and accepted His salvation, our sins have been forgiven. We've been washed in His precious blood; Christ has forever taken away our sins. Nevertheless, we still need to go to Him daily in confession. If we don't, like children who hide something that they've done from their parents, we'll begin to feel distant from Him; our fellowship with Him will be broken.
If you have not made the decision to accept His salvation, don't delay. Come to Him now, for "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Acts 2:21 NIV)
Prayer: Father, we want our lives to be clean and free from spiritual stains. Help us to turn to You daily, accepting Your forgiveness and grace for our lives. Amen.
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A priceless Word Sharon! Blessings.
Thanks for the encouraging words, Sharon.
To live joyfully we need to think of our blessings and give thanks to the Lord.
Oh Sharon, you’ve hit the proverbial nail on its head! Thank you for this timely reminder. Blessings.
Sharon, I recognize your skill at finding God’s message in everyday circumstances.
Thanks for sharing.
Amen Sharon!
I hate cleaning those blinds too.
Enjoy your new retreat.
Blessings.
Greetings Sharon and many thanks for your devotional today. Yes, we are so fortunate to have Christ as our “cleanser”. He is ever there when we come to Him begging forgiveness and He helps us stay on the right path through His guidance. He is so deserving of our constant gratitude. Blessings for another of your special writings.
Thanks, Sharon, for today’s devotional.
When “we” retired and moved to rural Central Texas we moved into a house which has few window coverings… bedrooms only. Course, the windows need to stay reasonably clean. I thought about those windows, your devotional, and said to myself… those windows are always open just like your heart is to God. He sees through all our coverings, doesn’t he.
I appreciate your writing.
(Texas)
Hello Sharon:
Thank you for an excellent Devotional and it was appropriate your comparison about cleaning venetian blinds and how we are often guilty of committing sin and trying to cover it up.
Regarding the blinds I have heard of people filling a bathtub with sudsy water and wash your blinds in the tub which is much easier than trying to do it all by hand.
May God continually bless you as you serve Him in the gift of writing meaningful and precious Devotionals.
I really enjoyed you devotion. I felt like you were sending it just to me! I know what you mean about cleaning dirty blinds. It is like the sin in our lives we try to keep hidden. I really know how it feels to get rid of my sin by confessing it to God! Thanks again for your devotion.
Good morning, Sharon,
Thank you for your good words and the Bible passage you chose is so appropriate:
1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (NIV)
So true.
Blessings.
Hi Sharon,
I thought about how you can clean the blinds in the bathtub.
When I thought about how, when we submerge the blinds in the tub, it reminded me how we are cleansed through baptism. Some sprinkle, but others totally submerge the person.
Thank you for your devotional(s).
Good morning, Sharon,
Definitely you painted a great picture of the work to clean up your blinds and using it as a great example of the stuff we need to clean up in our spiritual life. I was picturing you working away as I read your devotional.
I was thinking sometimes how different the examples that are used in devotionals that are written by women compared to the ones written by men. I could definitely be wrong here and maybe it is just the last few devotionals. I will have to think on this idea a little more.
Thank you for sharing your experience at reminding us to not procrastinate and to ask God for forgiveness before the stains set in too hard. Blessings.