Thursday, January 17, 2008

Remove the Scum

I pray when I clean. I learned to pray from the most beautiful housekeeper I had ever known. An all Titus 2 woman, she taught me to pray for the family and other things that come to my mind when I put away the dishes, pick up the dirty socks, wash their clothes, and make the beds. She has moved on, but what she taught me still remains.

While on my knees cleaning and praying, I worked hard to scrub the scum out of the tub. I skipped a couple of weeks of cleaning as it is my bathroom. I rationalized that only my husband and I use it. No 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 word in my heart about housecleaning. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. First Corinthians 6:19 (NIV) says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.” 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.

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

David’s life has several examples of conviction of sin as he had a prophet to confront him. We have the Holy Spirit who convicts us. (John 6:18) If we seek the Lord daily and ask Him to reveal to us the areas that need cleansing, He will show us.

David was called a man after God’s own heart. Not because he did everything right, but because after the conviction, he confessed his sins. One of my favorite scriptures to pray is part of the prayer David prayed after he sinned with Bathsheba. Psalm 51:10-12 NIV says, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

God is light and in order to walk in the light, we must be purified from all sin by the blood of Jesus. (1 John 1:7) Even though we have Jesus in our hearts, we still sin. First John 1:8-10 (NIV) says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”

Oh how I long for all us to keep Him in our lives. I desire that fellowship with my Father, through Jesus. I am so thankful that He is faithful to forgive us from our sins when we’re willing to confess them.

Knowing the Lord made a way for us to have continual fellowship with Him, through His Son and the Holy Spirit; I desire to keep my temple of the Holy Spirit clean.

May we all remove the scum from our temples daily. No Scotch-Brite® Pads necessary!

***************************************************************

Written by Shonda Whitworth. Word count: 655 words

Revised from January 16, 2008 post, otherwise, not previously published. Permission granted to be used by Proverbs 31 Ministries in the magazine and its promotion, as well as in other facets of the ministry, including radio programs and on the website. ******

***********************************

Dear Blogging Friends, this is a revised repost from January 16, 2008 to enter a contest by Proverbs 31 Ministry. Visit Lysa TerKeurst for more information.

Blessings in Christ--

10 gracious comments:

Emily said...

This is great stuff! I know from experience how sin scum can build up and get pretty ugly and hard to get rid of! On tha same note, I remember when we moved into our new house 3 years ago, I had such an experience in my brand new shower (it's the small things!) The house we had moved from was old and the bathroom was very old and I never felt like I could get it clean! When we spent the first night in our brand new house (that God put us in miraculously!) I took a shower and it was brand new and so clean and just lovely! I felt so thankful over this small thing and I said to God, Lord, never let me forget how this feels, I feel so thankful and I always want to remember". Seems silly, but it was meaningful! Now, the shower gets scummy and needs a good cleaning regularly. The word "create" in the verse you mentioned is the same as used in Gen 1:1, God(Elohim) creating the earth out of the darkness, creating something spectacular out of nothing, brand new. The same God creates our hearts brand new every time we repent and turn from the darkness of sin. So I guess God removes the scum in our temples and makes it as brand new as that first shower I took in my brand new home. Thanks for the great reminder, I needed it today!

Fran said...

WOW! Was that a good word or what?

I love every ounce of what you said Shonda.

I daily pray for my heart to be clean and pure and empty myself so I can be filled with Him.

Who knew house cleaning and everything we do could be just beautiful "God Stop" moments with the creator of the Universe.

I am blown away by the desire He has to get into our details.

He's just awesome. Have a wonderful day friend~
Fran

NYC said...

AMEN!!!!

P.S. Thank you for visiting my blog. I will be visting your again as well :)

Celly B said...

What a great analogy! Thanks for sharing it with us.

Laura said...

Amen and Amen! That was great! Thanks for visiting my blog!

Wrinkled Shirts said...

Shonda,
Thanks for visiting my blog. I truly enjoyed yours although now I feel I need to go clean the tubs. I hate to even admit how long it's been since they have had a good scrubbing. It always makes it so much more enjoyable though when you have spiritual thoughts on which to reflect.

2nd Cup of Coffee said...

Shonda, I love your new profile pic.

Rick said...

On your knees cleaning and praying huh? I think the Lord likes that. Jesus would be comfortable in that role.

http://organizeddoodles.blogspot.com/

Amy Wyatt said...

This is a powerful post. Thanks for reminding us to pray during our everyday routines and to keep our temple clean. I enjoyed this post alot!
Amy

annette said...

I love your new look and most especially your heart that you share. I appreciate myself a little heart housekeeping and your words ring true. Thanking Him for His purifying Blood spilt on our behalf. love you, annie