Dirty

Dishes get dirty.  We thoroughly clean them before use and we thoroughly clean them after use.  Still  as it is shelved it collects dust and things from the atmosphere leave it less than desirable for use.  So, when we are in need of the dish again do we discard it.  By no means. We take that thing out and thoroughly wash it down. We know it is still very capable of doing the job it is intended to do.

People get dirty.  Most of us work hard to uphold Godly standards, but not one of us is perfect.  We may be on fire for God for a while, but after some time of dealing with our atmosphere we begin to collect some less than desirable elements in our spirits and become unclean. Thank the Lord that God sees us like we see our dishes.  He knows we have been dirtied up a bit, but he is more than willing to clean us right up.  He knows that we, also, are still very capable of doing the job he intended us to do.

What's a little disheartening is that people don't think like God.  We show more grace to our pots and pans than we do to the people in our lives.  We clean up a dust-ridden serving tray and proceed to put it on display as if it never had cobwebs in it's corner before we pulled it out for Thanksgiving.  But let a person we know get a little dirty and we are ready to forever shun them and God forbid that he should ever use that person again in life. Our minds keep going back to when they were dirty. 

God's ways are not like our ways and his thoughts are not like our thoughts.  God recognizes that none of us are perfect. He knows that if he waited on flawlessness to use one of us, nothing would ever get done.  No, instead God uses his divine sense of order and timing.  He waits on us.  He knows that we will be in error a large part of the time in our lives, but he also knows that we will have times that our hearts are perfect towards him. He knows that our spirits will reconcile with him and want only what he wants...for a time.  He uses that time. He uses that person during that time. 

Consider the greats of the Bible. None of them were without error. They all turned their hearts toward their own desires at some point. David truly loved God. David also led a woman into adultery and committed murder.  Paul had a time in his life when he served God in everything he did.  He also had a time in his life when he was a Christian killer.  These men authored some of the Bible. They wrote words under the inspiration of God that represent God himself. Still, they were not always under that inspiration.  God couldn't use them everyday. God used them during the moments that their hearts were pure towards him.

All of this said to say, when you are like those dirty dishes don't allow that to hinder you from approaching God.  It is times like these that we need God most.  And let us not judge others who are making genuine efforts to cleanse their spirit and serve God with their whole heart.  What sense does it make for the pot to call the kettle black?   At some point, we all have been and will again be dirty dishes.  God's expectation is that we continually help clean one another up.

Scripture:
Ephesians 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:

I John 1:9
 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Prayer:
Lord, thank you for your grace is always sufficient and your mercy is everlasting. Lead us towards being gracious and merciful to one another as you are to us.