Perfectly Clean

I need help washing dishes. Do you want to wash or rinse them? I’ll wash! you say. Good. Let’s soak all the utensils while you start on the cups. This scrubbie works well on the sticky parts. I’ll be the inspector, so be sure to do your best!

Scrub, scrub, swish! It’s fun to be a cleaning team, isn’t it? I’m catching up with you! you say. Good job—but watch out! There is some food stuck on this bowl. You rub it quickly. Now it’s clean! That food can’t sneak away from us! That’s right—everything is going to be perfectly clean when we are done.

Watch out on that spatula. It will be hard to clean because egg is stuck on it. Got it! you say. Not quite—look again. See that white part right there? Scrub, scrub. All done. Nope, this part is still sticky. I told you it was hard. Do you want me to do it? I can clean it! you say. Good. Try feeling it with your fingers—this end needs more scrubbing. One more inspection check. One more spot to scrub. At last—it’s perfectly clean!

I’m glad that you were determined not to give up. Bigger problems and difficult jobs need more courage, don’t they? Like when my room is all messy, you say. That’s right. What about the times you have another chore to do, right when you feel like playing? Should you complain and argue, or just do it? Do it, you admit. But sometimes it seems like I always have to work. That’s why we need to have a goal. It helps us keep on track and not lose hope. What’s a goal? Well, it’s like saying, “We’re going to get all the dishes perfectly clean,” or “We can have a break when all the clothes are put away.” Instead of giving up when we feel tired or think of something else to do, we can conquer the problems and win!

Goals and determination are good for chores, but they are also important if we want to live for God. Do you know that Jesus has a goal for us? The Bible says that Jesus died to make us “without spot… holy, and without blemish.”* (Ephesians 5:27) We all want our lives to be beautiful and happy, so we must let God inspect us! If you are stuck up with bits of selfishness and spotted with sins, like lies and hate, God knows how to make you perfectly clean. And He is determined to do it, if you’ll let Him!