Tip of My Iceberg

We have the incredible good fortune to have a massive sink in our kitchen. It’s been a source of fun for the littles when they come over–playing in water is a universal joy for tots. It also fits big turkeys which need to be rinsed, large amounts of vegetables that need washing and peeling, and has become a favorite bathtub for the smaller set.

We’d been out and about all day in the sticky Florida sun. High temperatures and high humidity make for ongoing sweat that overwhelms with sweltering, stifling dripping off various body parts. When we ended up back at our home for dinner, sitting in air conditioning felt wonderful. No one wanted to move.

After dinner, little Kolly was not just sweaty but sticky from wearing much of her dinner–she’s an independent little soul who wants to feed herself. No matter what the food is.

She loves to bathe in the sink.

There’s a reality here that can’t be ignored. We’re talking after dinner–the sink had food debris and general grossness in it. So to clean the child I had to first clean the sink. Thoroughly. Which takes effort. And it needs to be clean enough for her mom’s approval.

Kolly couldn’t keep the grins off her face as she splashed in the sink. Getting clean was the easy part.

Cleaning the sink was the hard part.

We’re all in need of a good cleaning. I’m not speaking of baths and showers but of the mess we make of life with bad choices, poor decisions, and unedited words that can hurt others. It’s often a challenge to recognize that there are unsavory parts about our lives that leave chaos and confusion in our wake. We’re not aware we need to clean up our act unless we’ve really made a mess of things with others. Or ourselves.

We can’t clean ourselves on our own. Our best efforts will fall short for we’ll still manage to hurt others and ourselves no matter how great our intentions.

It’s why Jesus went to the cross. He’d never done anything wrong–He lived a life without doing wrong to Himself or others. He didn’t die for anything He’d done–but for all the mess we create in our lives and the lives of others.

There isn’t a one of us who is perfect.

It cost Jesus to make us acceptable to a perfect God. He endured punishment, torture, and death to save us–to clean us thoroughly. His effort and not ours.

“But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, He saved us from all that (mess we make of our lives). It was all His doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with Him and given us back our lives.” Titus 3:4-6

As we grow older, it’s easy to fight the need to be clean, inside and out. Justifying that we’re not that bad or trying to balance good works with wrong actions won’t make it either.

We need a good cleansing.

Like Kolly, it’s easy to fill our lives with the dirt around us because in the moment it seems like a good idea.

But being made completely clean by Jesus is the thorough washing we need.

With the promise of eternal life as incentive.

Better than a bath toy.