Spot Cleaning

John 2:1-17 NKJV
Water Turned to Wine 2 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” 4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” 6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. 7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. 9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. 10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” 11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. 12 After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days. Jesus Cleanses the Temple 13 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. 15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. 16 And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” 17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten[a] Me up.”[b]
-- Taken from biblegateway.com

Spot Cleaning does have value

"I am so tired, can't believe I only got 6 hours of sleep. Maybe I can just take a nap.... OH MAN I forgot I was supposed to shampoo the carpets today!" This is about how my Sunday played out this week. I had some great friends over (Thanks Tim, Tim, Zach, Ryhan, and we missed you Mugs). I realized after sending them home at 12:30 am the night before and having to be up at 6:30 that morning for church that I was going to just be tired. I thought I would get some semblance of relaxation until that fated thought that started this paragraph. I had completely forgotten to go to WalMart and get the carpet cleaning machine.
After checking with my wife, I found out that I had previously made the determination to wait because we are particularly tight on finances right now. News to me, even though I made that decision... just goes to show you that I am human after all (sorry to let you down Zach). I got our carpet cleaner out, took a look and started spot cleaning, as I had promised my wife I would. I physically got down on my hands and knees and started scrubbing grime and stains out of our carpet. As I did, I felt my sore muscles. I had worked out the day before fairly vigorously. I thought I was done.

Selah


Yesterday morning, I turned on the lights after getting up only to discover spots that I had not noticed. I did my workout, as per usual, and then grabbed the cleaner once again. I cleaned them up, went about my morning routine. I started to realize that I had not been doing spot cleaning in my life very well, I had missed some spots. I got to thinking as I read this scripture how much we miss spots and have to go back over the same areas many times. But God spoke something to me that I feel holds weight.

Selah


Depending on the area, we may have to go over areas many times in our lives. It has to do with continued redemption. The bible says that we are to be TRANSFORMED by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). We are not there yet, and just like the carpet in my living room, I have to go over and over and over to get it clean, because some grime is really stuck in there. We have to look at the fact that our lives are huge tapestries of God's power on display. We grime them up with our sin and the Holy Spirit works in tandem with our desire to be transformed to allow us to go over that spot with spot cleaner. While we ourselves DO NOT DO THE WORK, we have to be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to do the work needed. This works us, it shapes us, chisels us, changes us. Makes us sore, tired, and in pain at first.

Selah


Sure, it hurts to let the Holy Spirit point out flaws in our character. I get that. I like it very little myself, but it must be done if we are going to be in relationship with God and let God inhabit us. He requires a clean house. God isn't mad with us for being dirty, He's not mad at us for allowing that stain to set in over the years. He feels bad that normal use and wear and tear causes us to fail, fall, and hurt. In some cases, hurting others because we do not allow ourselves to be repaired and kept clean in his presence. As I sit here this morning, pondering the redemptive work of the Cross and grace in the form of Christ, I can't help but wonder. What would my life look like if I had just allowed Jesus to use the "Rug Doctor" every day? In any case, He would still have to spot clean, but it would be less pain for me later.

Selah


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