If you know me, you know that God has given me this funny ability to find a lesson in the most random things. For example: [link] Learning a lesson from a leaf bug. Well, I've got another one for you guys. And, you guessed it, it's about dirty mop water.
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An excerpt from my journal...
o6.14.o8
This morning, I woke up early to sweep and mop my room so that I would have more time to do school work before the party with my youth group that night. So, I went downstairs to grap the supplies. A blue bristled broom and dustpan, along with a heavy red bucket of water, cleaner, and one of those old school "spaghetti hair" mops.
I swept and then squeezed the new water from the mop and began cleaning at the back of my room. But, something smelled funny. The mop! It was dry when I had gotten it from the downstairs closet, so I had assumed it was clean. So I went to rinse it in the water that I had in the bucket. I mean, it had cleaning stuff in it, right? That should take care of it. But that water was already contaminated. The new, fresh water that I had just gotten to mop with was already soiled before I even started.
I had to rinse the smelly mop in the tub. I used some soap to clean it off, and hopefully get rid of that smell (and I did...at least on the outside I did). Then I poured the nasty water out of the bucket, rinsed it, and refilled it. I put some cleaner in and started over.
But again, I smelled something weird. I got down on my knees and the newly mopped floor smelled like the mop had. Next step, check the mop. Yup, it had only been a superficial clean. It hadn't gotten down to the "root". Just a great way to start way too early in the morning. Hard labor and supplies that don't want to cooperate.
This silly mop was not only causing me trouble, but it was contamination everything around me! (Hopefully you know where I'm going with this.) While I'm writing this, I'm letting it soak in the water. When I had gotten frustrated, my heart looked for a lesson in all of it. Suddenly, it clicked. I could almost hear Him saying to me softly, "You keep going back to that dirty mop water like it's going to be clean. I am the pure river of Living Water..."
And in case you were lost on the dirty mop water thing, think about it like this. The mop? That's our flesh. The water is our spirit/soul. And the floor represents our surroundings. Sometimes we've only done a superficial "cleansing" of ourselves. We did it ourselves instead of letting God handle it. So there's no way we could get to the root. (If you've read "The Dawn Treader" by C.S. Lewis, it's kind of like that moment by the pool of water with Eustace and Aslan. He kept peeling off the layers, always getting a little closer, but he would always find another layer beneath it. Only Aslan could get down to his heart.) "Whatever the body does, effects the spirit." If we don't allow God to cleanse us to our hearts, our "mops" are going to contaminate our "waters". And eventually, our "floors". So what's the cure? Let go and let God. Only He has water fresh enough. Only He can cleanse deep enough.
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And today? I heard it again.
Kind of connects, now that I think about it.
During praise and worship, I was feeling bad for always coming before the Lord feeling so dirty and unworthy. Just like I was kneeling down with all this filth and shame every Sunday. (Understand it's not the only time I spend with Him, but there's something about being in His House that helps you let things go and be refreshed..) Then I hear Him again, whilst singing. "Why do you think it is so bad to come before Me and be washed often? Don't you cleanse your body daily? Why does your soul deserve any less? Sometimes it's not something bad that you've done that has made you dirty or tired, but effects of the work you've done or where you have been."
He always knows just what to say.
So if your mop is clean, but you're cleaning up dirty floors, your going to get dirty, even if you're doing the right thing. Living in this world and in this flesh, it's inevitable. So go to that pure flow, and let Him cleanse you again.
