Soap Scum…Redeemed

When we were first married, I made a secret promise to myself to be the model wife…you know, cooking five star meals, decorating like I belong on DIY tv, and keeping the house clean, especially the bathroom.  It was pretty simple in those days…we were out of the house every weekday for work and we only had one teeny tiny bathroom in our cozy little row house apartment.  Most days, if you checked, the bathroom was spic and span!

I hate to say it, but these days…it’s not until my feet are sticking to the bottom of the shower that I finally give in and give the floor a quick scrub.  Only when guests are taking over our space does the shower get a full all out Mr. Clean shine.  And it’s on those days, the days I get to scrubbing the compounded soap scum that I wonder, ‘What’s redemptive about this?’

Soap scum reminds me of the need for regular confession with the Lord and friends.  There are two forms of ‘regular,’ I guess.

Option 1-Attend to  it often

1. Take a good look at all the filthy things in there
2. Show the dirt to Jesus and let Him show you some more
3. Feel the scrubbing abrasiveness of the gospel’s truth
4. Rinse the scrubbed particles with the refreshing promises of Christ’s righteousness
5. Voila–back to beautiful.

Option 2-Clean it up when your feet stick to the gunk

1. Get really agitated that being in the place where you’re trying to clean up actually makes you feel more dirty
2. Do a quick scrub that only shows you how dirty the place is, walk away still feeling dirty
3. Finally give in and get down on your hands and knees…and alongside Jesus, scrub and scrub and scrub
4. Try to look through the piles of gunk to see what’s been building up over time
5. Ask Jesus to make sense out of it all
6. Feel really tired
7. Rinse with the promise that Jesus will never leave you even though things still look dirty
8. Repeat several times
   
9. Vow to start cleaning more regularly

There’s a reason that God required regularly scheduled sacrifices from the Israelites.  Over time, without regularly ‘coming clean’ before God, he knew they would grow numb and calloused.  There’s a reason that we’re to encourage each other ‘as long as it’s called today.’ This passage says that the alternative is being hardened to sin’s deceitfulness.  Sounds like soap scum to me. I need to be before Jesus daily-allowing Him to show me my sin and enjoying the forgiveness and righteousness He offers.  I also need to encourage those around me and ask them for encouragement.

And I need to clean my shower more regularly.

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