A Regular Cleaning

By: Jenifer Metzger

We have four dogs in our home. Two precious Dalmatian pups, one senior Puggle, and my son's Black Lab. Three of the four dogs are large dogs, two of them being eighty pounds. All four of the dogs are shedders. Four shedders. Three large shedders. Dog hair is an issue.

I greatly dislike dog hair in my home so I sweep the hard floors and vacuum the carpets literally every single day. There is just no way around it. Two weeks ago my vacuum cleaner quit working. I suspected it was the belt so I went to four different stores in a matter of three days and no one had the correct belt. I looked online and it was going to take a week to get a new belt. Remember my four shedders? Yea, I cannot wait week. So I went to a few more stores, still no belt.

After one week -I should have just ordered the belt online- I decided to take apart my vacuum cleaner in hopes that maybe the belt wasn't the issue and I could fix it. My original thought was correct, the belt was snapped right in half. Since it was apart, I went ahead and cleaned everything out and went to get a new filter from the cabinet. Wouldn't you know it? Jenifer from last year was smart and bought two belts instead of one, so I had a brand new belt! Whew!

I put the new belt and new filter into the freshly cleaned out vacuum cleaner and began to vacuum the carpets. I filled the canister four times. Four. Times. I could have created a new eighty pound dog.

The dog hair, and dust and crumbs of every day life, added up quicker than I could have imagined. Left unattended, it just continued to pile and make a gross mess that later cost me a lot of time and effort (and even had me gagging a bit).

That's the way it is with sin. When we leave sin unattended, it just continues to pile and make a horrible mess that costs us a lot. But we have a gracious God, full of mercy. When we repent, He forgives.

If we confess our sins, He is

faithful and righteous to forgive

us our sins and to cleanse us

from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 CSB

Repentance isn't just saying, "I'm sorry," and going back to what we did. Repentance is confessing our sin to God and asking Him to forgive us, then turning away from our sin and striving to not commit that sin again.

Just as vacuuming isn't a once and done thing, repentance isn't a once and done thing. We are humans, very flawed and selfish humans who sin daily. Hourly even. We do things that displease God. We say things that displease God. We even have thoughts that displease Him. This sin puts a wall between us and God. We need to do a regular cleaning of our heart by repenting and asking God to reveal any sin in our hearts. We need to ask Him to help us live a life holy and pleasing to Him. We need a regular cleaning.

Discussion:
1. Do you intentionally ask for forgiveness daily?
2. It can be easy to ask God to "forgive me of my sins," but do you ask God to reveal any sin you aren't aware of, have forgotten, or anything in your heart He doesn't want there? It can be hard, but it is necessary.