What's Your Dirty Counter-top?

About two weeks ago I recreated our counter-top (I gave it a face lift) in a faux granite look. I love it. Over the weekend, I was given five baskets of tomatoes. What a blessing!! So I made spaghetti sauce. Do you know it’s very hard to make spaghetti sauce without making a mess? It is, trust me on this. This morning as I was making coffee I decided to wipe off the counter-top. It didn't look too dirty, so it wouldn't take too long, right? Wrong!!! As I started cleaning, I noticed that the counter-top was filthy even though it didn't look dirty at all. I was congratulating myself on choosing colors that would hide the dirt well, then suddenly I stopped and laughed at myself. Did I really want the dirt to be hidden? Of course not!! I want The counter-top to BE clean mot just appear to be clean. I thought of when Jesus called the Pharisees whitewashed tombs. What he was saying is that, although they looked clean, they were grubby and full of rotting, disgusting stuff. Then I thought about how many of us do the same thing in our life. We can say and do the right things and appear clean until a car cuts us off, someone at work irritates us, or things don’t go the way we want and we instinctively act in another manner. In fact, even IF we, by some stroke of luck, hide the dirt and no one realizes we are dirty, There is still one who knows about the dirt... God. Imagine that you came to my house and you saw the counter-top; you might think it was clean, but I would know the truth. I would know it was grimy even if you never knew. Fact!! Everybody has a dirty counter-top; sometimes I have more than one. Often, in our Christian life, we would prefer to cover up the sin rather than confess it. We think that somehow it will go away or if we can't see it, it doesn't exist. What we really need is to admit the sin, dirt, and then clean it. Errrr… have God clean it. God isn't interested in hiding the dirt, of our lives. He wants to change us and make us sparkling. Hiding the sin in our lives won't make it go away, the absolute, only way to make the sin go away is to confess it. In the same way, it is better to clean the counter-top and remove the dirt rather than hide it. because the dirt won't go away by itself. What's your dirty counter-top?

Comments

What’s That Smell?

To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. 2Corinthians 2:16 Last break! The shift was almost over. Then the unthinkable happened, this man appeared out of nowhere wanting to know where the flashlights were kept. As we were on our way to the flashlights, I noticed that this man had a very strong odor. I thought perhaps I could get in front of him so that the smell would not be as strong. That, however, was not to be either since; he insisted on keeping pace and walking right beside me. By the time we got to where the flashlights were; I was practically running just to keep ahead of him. I showed him the flashlights and made a hasty exit. If you’re like me, you shower and even put on perfume or cologne so that you will not stink. We are concerned that the smell coming from our body is not offensive to others. As I write this, I wonder if we are as concerned with our spiritual aroma as ...

Grow Old Gracefully

I’d like to tell you about a lady I visited yesterday. She is ninety-five years young. She recently moved into nursing home. She asked one of the workers how many times she would have to walk around the outside of the building in order to walk a mile. She said the person told her about ten. Then she leaned in really close and whispered, “I walked around twelve just to be sure I walked a mile.” Hahahaha! What a lady! She loves to keep active, even in a nursing home. As we talked, I saw no anger or bitterness in her speech or actions. There was only a love for God, a heart of compassion, and a sense of humor. She has befriended the one "prickly pear" at the home because as she said, “I have to love her, so she knows Jesus loves her too.” Wow!!! I need to live like that! I want to show that much compassion for those around me that need Jesus. She loved to talk about God and what he was teaching her. ...

Thank you God for Leading us

Thank you God for how you lead us. Like a shepherd leading his sheep. Sometimes through the words you spoke in the Bible, your written word. at other times, it was the wise words from friends, coworkers,or neighbors spoken at just the right time. Still other times it was a gentle tug, a whisper to our heart to move in one direction or another; intuition or a sixth sense that one way or another was right or wrong Yet, when I listened and obeyed I found the way was clear, distinct and easy to follow. You never leave us to guess which way to go. ...

Inspirations

Search This Blog