Dirt That Doesn't Belong

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This past weekend, while there were moments of sunshine, I decided to take full advantage of it. So, Rip and I went to one of our “happy places” (Lowes), and bought a “heavy-duty-not-playing-around-Lisa’s-new-toy” pressure washer!  YES! I turned my new toy on at 7:45am and didn’t stop deep cleaning until 6:00pm. AND I WAS LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!

II PW Before:After 2

II PW Before:After 4

There’s a reason why the cushions aren’t in any of the chairs…..I’m pressure washing them all today! Whoo Hoo!! (I’m aching from my earlobes to my ankles, but it’s such a worthy woe!)

I do projects in stages. So, now that the patio has been deep cleaned, it’s time to seal it. That will be another fun time with the Lord because …. as a Christian, we are SEALED by the Holy Spirit. (I’m telling you, when you live in the Word of God, the Spirit brings the Word of God to almost everything you do. It’s as though all day long, we GET TO acknowledge Him in all our ways – we GET TO think about Him in all our ways – and that includes HOMEMAKING! Pressure washing IS making “Home Sweet Home.”  But being able to take the routines of the day and see the goodness and truths and promises of God in “all our ways“, well, that’s one of the many reasons why I LOVE being a homemaker!

But after the patio is sealed, then it will be time to pressure wash all the cushions, then I’ll put out the decorative throw pillows and the outdoor rug, fill up pots with flowers and froo-froo the entire outdoor space.

But back to the pressure washing —-

I pressured washed our patio, sidewalks, front porch, the sides of the house, a breezeway, garage floor, bird bath, bricks around the flower beds…and on and on, I’d look for places that had a smidgin’ of built-up dirt. WHY? Because dirt doesn’t belong in my home. Not THAT kind of dirt, that’s for sure. Dirt that is trying to “put down roots” isn’t really dirt at all … that’s called mold and mildew. And if there is one thing I can’t stand, it’s having fungus and bacteria growing on or in ANY part of our home.

II PW Before:After 1

Why do I obsess with this? Why do I want things to be SO DEEP CLEANED and (if at all possible) have it purified almost from the inside out? I think it’s because of something so simple – it doesn’t belong there. Dirt, mold, mildew, fungus….none of it belongs on our home, in our home, or on any extensions of our home. But like anything that “doesn’t belong”, it tends to surface and grow and surface and grow sooooooooooo subtly. It is a slow and steady and consistent process of “ignoring” dirt, overlooking a little here and a little there, until one day we look up and we are SURROUNDED by crud! And we want it gone….all of it.

As I stood all day pulling a small trigger on an oversized pressure washer, the thought that kept rolling around in my mind was this:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, renew a steadfast spirit within me,” Psalm 51:10.

When David prayed this prayer, he was asking for God to purify his heart of ALL sin.  He was saying, “I want a clean heart, not a dirty one.” Why? because “the dirt of sin” doesn’t belong there. The dirt of unconfessed sin doesn’t belong in the “home” (heart) of any child of God. David literally came to the point in his life that he declared with a penitent heart, “Dirt doesn’t belong in my heart.”

John Macarthur says:

Everybody understands David was a great worshiper, wasn’t he? Great worshiper. He wrote many, many, many Psalms, dozens and dozens of Psalms. And we use those Psalms to worship and they are worshiping Psalms. But David also understood the wretchedness of his own heart and he was a true worshiper who knew that while it was one thing to come to God and give Him glory, it was also an equal critical thing to come to God and recognize his own unworthiness. He is not a spiritual novice, this David, he is a man after God’s own heart.

David became obsessed with this sin. It preyed on his mind. It weighed him down until he got relief through real confession. And that is what you see in Psalm 51. Here is the confession of a man who feels the full burden of his own guilt.

If I were to sum up what David was feeling, I might say it like this, Sin had made him dirty and he wanted to be clean. Guilt had made him sick and he wanted to be well. Disobedience had made him lonely and he wanted to be reconciled. Rebellion had made him fearful and he wanted to be pardoned.”

That’s what comes out of Psalm 51, a man who feels dirty, sick, isolated and afraid…all consequence of his sin. And out of that, he pours forth this confession and it has all the right perspectives of a true confession would be threefold…see your sin for what it is, see God for who He is, and see yourself for who you are. Any true confession is going to have to interact with those components.

Pressure washing, as thoroughly as it gets the job done, can’t even come close to the thoroughness of God’s forgiveness, His all righteous judgement on sin, and His mercy and grace at work in our life. I have read the full sermon of John MacArthur’s on, “The Believer’s Confession of Sin” (Psalm 51) and it is one that I wish you could read or listen to, too. Because if you are like David, and that is — you are tired of feeling dirty, then please be encouraged to either print off or take the time to listen to John preach the most powerful message I’ve ever heard on how the Lord produces in us a true, broken, contrite and CLEAN heart, clean conscience, clean usefulness and clean worship.

Living Clean by the Mercy of God,

lisa

 

 

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