Gunk

A few weeks ago I was busy cooking all day for some event (that I can't even remember right now!).  I needed to wash out a pan, so went to the kitchen sink to turn on the water, and the handle of the faucet came right off!  Not good when that's your only water source for the kitchen!

I knew that the faucet was having some trouble a month before.  It was sticking and making creaking sounds.  After researching online and talking to a plumber, I decided that I needed to get vinegar up into the socket of the faucet.  Not sure how to do that, I took one of my tiny syringes (the ones I use for my allergy shots) and filled it with vinegar...shooting it up into the faucet socket. (It was fun, actually!) I did that over and over, then soaked a cloth with vinegar and wrapped it around the faucet socket and left it over night.  The next day the faucet was working wonderfully!  I was excited!

Perhaps the only way the vinegar would have kept the faucet going was if I had used it on it every day?  Or perhaps the vinegar was actually what ate through the socket instead of the "gunk"....who knows?  Either way, the "gunk" got in the way and caused my faucet to break.  For today's devotional, I'm going with the idea that daily maintenance would have kept my faucet operating smoothly and efficiently.

This situation makes me think about the spiritual life of a Christian.  We all have "gunk"....or sin in our lives.  Jesus will get rid of that "gunk".  However, it's up to us to continue with daily maintenance to keep our souls operating smoothly and efficiently.  Left untreated, the "gunk" will continue to build up and pretty soon we feel so weighed down by it that we feel like there is nothing we or anyone else can do. 

God's maintenance plan for our souls takes care of that "gunk".  The blood of Jesus can and does clean it and makes it new over and over.  Our part is in sticking with the maintenance plan laid out in the Bible.....confessing Him and confessing our sin and asking Him for forgiveness when the "gunk" gets in the way.

Each and every time....there we are....running like new - unlike my faucet!

Thank you, God, for your plan for our lives.  Thank you, Jesus, for giving your life to get rid of the "gunk"!

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

1 John 1:7

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

Romans 10:10