Remove the Scum

I pray when I clean. Praying while cleaning is something I learned to do from the most beautiful housekeeper I’ve ever known. You can read what I learned from her by clicking here.

While on my knees cleaning the tub and praying, I worked hard to scrub the scum out of the tub. I skipped a couple of weeks as this is my bathroom and only my husband and I use it and didn’t think it would be a big deal. But over those couple of weeks, lots of soap scum built up. I worked hard. The chemicals, Scotch-Brite® Pads, gloves, elbow grease and prayer were required to remove the scum that built up over those few weeks.

As I asked the Lord to help me remove the scum, I felt like He dropped a message in my heart about housecleaning. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). I felt convicted to keep my house—my temple for the Holy Spirit clean.

Like that scum on the bathtub that sat there for two weeks, sin will build up in our lives if not dealt with. The longer sin is allowed to go unchecked, the more difficult it is to remove. Then like scrubbing the scum from the bathtub, it will be hard work – not for God, but for us to overcome it.

I have a daily housekeeping schedule, I was convicted that I also need a daily temple of the Holy Spirit cleansing. If I clean out my temple on a regular schedule and keep my heart before the Lord, the scrubbing & removing sin will be less painful.

I like this prayer of David’s after he sinned with Bathsheba:

Psalm 51:1-12 NIV

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.

5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts ^[a] ;
you teach ^[b] me wisdom in the inmost place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

The Lord knows our transgressions and He made a way for us through His Son, Jesus. May I be willing to confess my sins so I may be forgiven!

1 John 1:9 NIV

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Lord, I praise You for You are a Holy God. You said, “Be holy because I am holy.” Lord, I thank You that You made a way by the sacrifice of Your precious Son, Jesus. Lord, I know I have sinned against You and I ask You to forgive me. I want to keep my temple for the Holy Spirit clean. I ask You to create in me a clean and pure heart. I ask You for forgiveness and I desire to keep my temple clean for the Holy Spirit. I don’t want to live without Your presence in my life. I ask You to grant me a willing spirit and sustain me. In Jesus name, Amen.

Blessings in Christ--