Stuck Food

STUCK FOOD

    I do not have a dishwasher. I know, I know, many of you can hardly believe it. Trust me, I can hardly believe it. The pace of our life is so fast, a dishwasher, seriously, would make my house 10 x's cleaner. That is not even an exaggeration! What seems to happen all too often is that we eat and leave. The dishes usually make their way off of the table, but not into the dish water until the next morning. I wake many days to a pile of plates and pans with food hardened into place.

I have 3 kids, so I know that some of you are telling me to put them to work. There is one little problem to that equation: I am an extremely picky washer. I cannot stand even a speck of food left on any plate or in between a fork prong or in a pan. I wash and wash and then run my hand over the utensil until I am confident all the grease, grime and food are gone! It, at times, can take me forever! I have washcloths with a special scrubbing side, I have special sponges, I have special degreaser and special soap. You can just say that my dishes are special. Just kidding. But I use all of those things so that they will be clean and completely ready for use the next time. You may think that I am over the top on this, but not one of you would eat off of a plate that was still dirty, or use a fork that still had last nights lasagna on it. I'm right aren't I?

Why is it that every single one of us would not put a plate away until it was clean, would continue to soak it if the food wouldn't come off and even go as far as using extra soap to help with the cleaning process? We would take that pan and, with perseverance, make it sparkle. We wouldn't throw it away just because it took extra work, nor would we leave it sit on the counter for 2 more weeks. We would immediately get to work on it.

Why are we satisfied walking around with "stuff" stuck to ourselves then? Why does a plate or spoon get more of our energy and attention than our spiritual lives do? I know that it is a weird analogy, but if you think about it, it is so true! We will leave pride plastered in place, or ignore the big chunk of selfishness that is there! We seem to not care that our hearts are getting hardened by sin every day! We leave it sit "on the counter" and not really take any special care to make sure we completely wash it away. We become mean, unloving, unforgiving and refuse to give grace when grace is needed! Read that last sentence again…does that sound like someone whose heart is loving Jesus? It actually sounds like someone who has never met Him! But how many of us find ourselves with at least one of those traits stuck firmly in place?

In Hebrews 3, it states this:

13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

 

Sin will deceive us and if we do not take care of it today, you will become hardened. Who are you surrounding yourself with? Are they willing to help you remove what is hardened in place? You have to remember that sometimes, it takes more than just one thing to get all the "junk" off! You need several to get the job completely done! Friends, The Bible, prayer, church, etc….don't think that you can do this yourself!

Don't be stubborn, and don't get comfortable in your sin! Get the soap out, degreaser, sponge and whatever else it takes! You will not ever be fully used unless you are completely clean! Plunge into that water and start washing!