September 4, 2019

Chores and Sin

We all have our chores to do around the house; at least, I hope we all do and don't let the care of the house fall to one person. In my house, because I have Fridays off, it's my job to do the weekly laundry, pay bills, and clean the bedroom and bathroom that belong to me and my wife. Very rarely I need to skip cleaning the bathroom due to something that gets in the way, but it almost always gets cleaned.

The tub is sprayed down and scrubbed. The shower doors are Windex-ed. The sink and vanity mirror get the same treatment. The floor is vacuumed and sometimes scrubbed. The toilet is cleaned inside and out. And the mats are vacuumed. Luckily it's not a large bathroom, so it doesn't take a whole lot of effort; it's just a matter of getting in there and doing it – 30 minutes tops, maybe 40 under special circumstances.

While I was cleaning this past weekend, I noticed that the space behind the shower door bumpers was looking icky, so I took those off and cleaned both wall and bumper. And when I was doing the sink, I remembered that it had been awhile since I took out the drain stopper. Whereas the bumpers were icky, this was positively gross, with black, brown, and gray gunk built up, along with a small wad of hair (for those eating breakfast right now – sorry).

As I said, I clean the bathroom faithfully every Friday; and yet, there was still an accumulation of yuck.

Sin works the same way. We try to keep our lives clean and holy. We participate in church on a weekly basis not for pardon only, but also for renewal. And yet, no matter how hard we try, how faithful we are, sin has a way of gathering in our lives, finding places to hide and grow, that, if not dealt with regularly, will result in an accumulation of yuck.

We generally don't like to talk about sin, confession, or repentance. But, if we want to do more than a cursory clean where people see only our surface, if we want to do a deep soul-clean, we need to open up those places where sin can build up and, eventually, cause major problems.

Just like we do regular maintenance and cleaning around the house to keep it from being overrun by yuck, we also need to do regular spiritual maintenance and cleaning in our lives to keep it from being overrun by sin.

Take time to examine your life. Take time to confess and repent. Take time to remove the yuck that slowly builds up over time. And then do it again next week.

Blessings,