Mold, Mildew and Dirt
While hiding Easter Eggs on Sunday afternoon on the left side of my house I noticed that Mildew, Mold and plain old dirt have formed on the side panels of my white house. Yuck! All the other sides of my house did not have any Mildew or Mold. I asked a home builder about this strange occurrence and he said it was normal with as much rain as we have had and the fact that side of the house does get a lot of sun during the winter months.He also asked if I had ever had the house washed since we bought it new 5 years ago? Nope…..
Normal or not…..I knew I had to get that side clean. So, I borrowed a pressure washer and began to power clean that side of the house. Amazing…..it looked like I was painting my house as the dirt and grim rolled off. I felt silly that I had not cleaned my house since I bought it. However, I reminded myself that until Sunday I had never noticed it being an eye sore.
Last night after dinner I began to also wash the other sides and areas of my house that were not brick. Amazing….that which I thought was “okay” was also very dirty. It just did not have the wet mold in the cracks. As I washed the house dirt just rolled off and the true colors of my “white” house began to show thoruh and sparkle.
Why do I share this with you?
Because our lives are just like my house. We don’t do the hard work of keeping our selves clean or even the simple work of confession to God until we notice (or someone points out) a really bad “eye-soar” dirty area. We get so use to living our lives with just a litle dirt that soon it just looks normal. Soon….our entire “house” is covered in dirt and grime and we don’t even notice it. We get accustomed to the dirty look. That which use to be white and pure is covered in dirty sin and we don’t even recoginize it because we have become desensitized to the dirt.
Only when we began to make cleaning changes….do we realize we have been living a life that is not what it should be!I know I have done this with my house and with my real life. What about you. Need a cleaning today? You and you alone are responsible! We need to become people who don’t blame others, don’t skirt the truth and don’t fail to learn from our mistakes. We need to have Uncommon Responsibility.
James 4:8-10
8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
