Dish Washer

I came home from church one morning feeling absolutely wonderful. Spirit filled is really a better way to put it.  As I walked through the door, I could see my kitchen sink full to the brim with dishes and cups, pots and pans.  It felt like the Spirit jumped right out of me.  I couldn't help but ask the questions of  "Who did this? How did these get here?" and the like.  I sort of dropped my bible and pen on the table as I approached the mountain of crusted cheese and unidentifiable scum that had accumulated on the various dishes.  

I looked out the window as the sink filled with the warm soapy water I would need to accomplish the task before me.  Taking the first glass in hand I began to pick and scrub off the red substance that seemed to have bonded itself onto the cup eternally.  Slowly but surely the glass became clean.  As I held it up to the window, I could see the beautiful prisms of light shining through it in clarity and radiance.  

The pile of dishes shrank as I continued to wash.  Not too far into the process I could feel my self being filled with the Spirit again.  As I was washing,  I began to understand the beautiful symbolism of what was happening.  I began to imagine what it must feel like for God as He cleanses us from our sins, as dirty, as numerous and as stubborn as they are.  

Just as man designed and created the drinking glass, so God has designed and created us.  The Word says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.  As I was cleaning my dishes, I delighted in their beauty and design.  I was made glad by their being restored to their original and undefiled condition.  I took great joy in restoring them.  

God is the same.  He loves to restore us (His creation) to our original condition.  He loves to wash us with the blood of His son that we might be cleansed and renewed completely. He will not stand for anything to remain upon His creation that He has not placed there Himself. No blemish, no mark, no personal passion or vice.  He takes joy only in restoring us entirely.  God does not do halfway jobs.  We know this because He is both the Author and Finisher of our faith.  

As I kept washing I could not stop until the pile no longer existed.  I had to get the job done.  In the same way I know that God never begins a work only to leave it unfinished.  I find it very encouraging to know that God will never leave me halfway done.  I will never be left in a pile of divinely unfinished business.  Never left to rot in my imperfection and dirt.  

I can't clean myself, and so God takes great joy in cleaning me that His light and glory might shine forth when he holds me up to the sky.