Dirty Floors

It has been established that I do not like to iron.
I do iron but I always think it is futile.
I tend to wait until I have about two weeks of my husband’s shirts before I get out the iron.
I put my music on, quite loud, which helps get me through the task.

I know that whatever I iron always looks better after I finish.
It is the process I do not like.
It is getting the ironing board out and filling the iron with water for steam.
It is wheeling the clothes rack from the laundry room to the kitchen.

I usually iron in my kitchen.
I can hear my music better there.
I can even watch something on TV in order to pass the time.
I am sure there are people that love to iron but I am not one of them.

It has also been established that I do not like to wrap presents.
I do not mind putting the various presents in nice gift bags.
However, putting a present in a box and wrapping it is not one of my favorite things.
I never measure the wrapping paper correctly and I tend to cut it crooked.

My children always wanted to actually open their presents, so I wrapped them.
But if I had my way, all the presents would have gone into gift bags.
Isn’t that what it’s all about?
Doing something you don’t want to do for the sake of others.

It has not been established until now that I do not like to wash my kitchen floor.
I spot clean it all the time with with a spray bottle of white vinegar and water.
However, I do not like to move all the chairs from the kitchen to the dining room.
I do not like to wash the kitchen and the laundry room floors.

I do wash them, of course, but I have to plan it in advance.
I usually wash them before I go somewhere so they can be drying while I’m gone.
The kitchen is a large room and there is quite a lot of floor to wash.
I have to figure out my strategy.

I start in the kitchen and work my way into the laundry room.
From there, I can go out the door into the garage.
The bucket and mop are kept in the garage until I come home.
After running errands, I come home to clean, dry floors, which is so nice.

After I iron, or wrap presents, or wash floors, I wonder why I procrastinated so much.
Once I get going, it’s not so bad.
However, it is the “get going” that is a problem.
It is getting started that makes those chores much worse than they really are.

After I iron, everything is done in reverse.
The ironing board is folded and put away.
The iron is emptied and put on the laundry room counter to cool.
The clothes are brought upstairs to be hung up in the closet.

After I warp presents, the scraps of wrapping paper are thrown away.
The scissors and tape are put back in my desk drawer.
The presents are put in their designated spot until the gifts are ready to be given.
The wrapping paper goes back into the closet where I also keep the gift bags.

It is when I wash my floors that I am always surprised.
The floors that we walk on day in and day out.
The floors look clean.
The floors are clean, at least I think they are.

And then I pour the bucket of water down the laundry room sink.
I see how much dirt really was on my floors.
The floors that looked so clean were not really clean at all.
There was salt from the winter weather; there were little pieces of gravel from the salt trucks.

It always amazes me.
That dirt was there all along despite my spot cleaning and touch ups.
I did a good job managing the dirt.
I had not really removed it.

It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”  “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. (John 13:1-17)

When we trust in Jesus alone for our salvation, we are made clean.
All our sins were paid for on that cross.
Think of the water in my bucket as I pour it down the drain.
I see the dirty water despite the fact that my floors looked clean.

Jesus said that we are clean, when we come to Him in faith and believe.
We have our salvation bath.
The dirty water of our sin that was put on Jesus is now down the drain: removed; gone.
Now all we need to do is spot clean each day.

We need to confess our sins to Him and repent of those sins each day.
It is as if Jesus is taking the spray bottle and spot cleaning our soul.
Each has its place in our salvation journey.
We have had our salvation bath if we trust in Jesus; we just need to spot clean each day.

The floors are never as clean as they look.
It is the same with us.
The spray bottle is handy.
Jesus spot cleans us each day as we confess our sins to Him in faith and repentance.