Have you ever stopped and thought about all the junk that slips down your kitchen sink?
We own a pest control company and at training they gave us a scope that gave us the ability to look down into a kitchen drain. It was nasty. Thank goodness they showed us a chemical that would clean out all the waste and the bugs that were busy feasting on the debris down there.
I couldn’t wait to get home and clean our drains.
After I treated them, the next morning I flushed them out with clean water. I didn’t have a scope to see, but I felt that my pipes were free of scum and disinfected. It was a good feeling.
As hard as I tried, it wasn’t long before things had slipped down the drains and the pipes needed cleaning again.
I relate this to my life as I experience the unclean things that surround me. This can take my focus and lead me astray. As much as I want my life to be clean and filled with the wonder of the Lord, I can get buried in temporal living. Thank goodness the Holy Spirit gets my attention and helps me see that I need to confess and let the cleaning blood of Jesus refresh my soul.
This is the fight of the soul this side of heaven. We are all in this fight, until we go home to be with the Lord.
Just like the cleaning power of the chemical for our drains, the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit is here to restore and refresh us. Jesus forgives and leads us out of the harmful things in our lives.
I thought about the drain stopper and how it catches things before they go down the drain. How does God provide for us so we can live our lives free from the harm and shackles of this world?
These are things He tells us in His Word:
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25
The first verse reminds us that God has given us His Word so we can know when our lives are cluttered with wrong actions and thoughts. The next one encourages us to go to Him with confidence for grace and help when we have gone outside His will. And the last one reminds us not to try to live the Christian life alone. We need one another.
Pray With Me
Dear Father,
We thank You for the blood of Jesus that can cleanse us from all ungodliness. We can so easily be led astray. Oh Father, we need discernment. Help us keep our hearts open to you. Teach us to walk in Your ways. Lord, when we find ourselves drifting away from You, bring us back to Your throne of grace to receive the help we desperately need. Thank you, Father, for the gift of salvation and the promise of transformation. We pray all this in Jesus’ name, amen.
For Reflection
Read 1 John 1:5-9.