All Clean

When I was a toddler (see picture for details...), I hated baths.  They really didn't seem that important, I could think of a million better ways to spend my time, and I always got shampoo in my eyes, which hurt.  However, there was one part of the bath-taking process that I enjoyed.  When I was done with the soap and the shampoo and all rinsed off, my dad would wrap me up in a towel, hold like a baby so I could see in the mirror, and say in his best "talking-to-an-infant" voice, "All clean!"

It was a tradition that made the whole ordeal worthwhile.  Whenever it was done to us, my sister and I would laugh hysterically.  Apparently we found it comical that we were being treated like babies because (clearly) we were much more grown up than that.

God, as our loving Father, understands the importance of cleaning the areas of our lives that are hurting us.  A child who does not bathe will become sick and suffer various infections and rashes.  When we refuse to let God clean us, we suffer spiritually.  But God sees our need and works to wash the harmful attitudes, habits, relationships, or thoughts from our lives.

There are many reasons we hate being cleaned.  Sometimes, it just doesn't seem important enough to bother with and we can't understand why God would ask us to give up a certain part of our life.  Other times, we are too busy to take the time to sit down and address our issues like we should.  Perhaps our core dislike, though, is that we hate it when the soap gets in our eyes.  Being cleaned is never convenient or easy, and often can be a painful process, but it is one that is necessary to our health.

Today in chapel, we studied the passage in John 15 where Jesus tells his disciples, "I am the vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."  As the speaker explained to us, the word "prune" here might also be translated into English as "clean up."  In other words, even when we are fruitful, we still should not be surprised when God begins to clean in areas of our lives.  After all, if we were perfect, we wouldn't have needed the cross in the first place.

Next time you are going through the hard process of being cleaned, thinking of all the things you could be doing in the meantime and fighting the pain of soap in your eyes, just remember the end goal.  One day, you will see yourself through the lens of the cross, through the eyes of Christ, and you will see the smiling face of God looking back at you as He declares: "All clean."

"Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." -James 1:4