faith that cleanses

There once was a house with a meticulous owner. Every day she would go outside to clean the sidewalk, weed the garden, and make sure the house looked tidy. No matter her effort or skills in cleaning each day, she had to return and clean once more. The house never remained clean on its own. It had no ability to remain clean. It continually got dirty once again.

Isn't this just like our salvation and faith? No matter how much we try or how much good we do, we cannot remove the continual stain of sin from our lives on our own. We continually get dirty in our own fallen state. Humanity is just like the house: we have no ability on our own to remain clean. There is no effort or skill that we can provide to remain pure. But thanks be to God, we CAN be cleansed through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, who washes away the stain of sin once and for all! We cannot do it, but He can!

The same is true in our faith in Jesus. We cannot rely on yesterday's manna for today. Each day we must return to Holy Spirit for guidance and direction. Each day we need a fresh nourishment from the Word and a new revelation. We should be weeding out our thoughts each day (Romans 12:2). We must certainly do our best to present ourselves to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15) as a partnership of our own effort and help from Holy Spirit.

I walk past this house every time I take a walk in the "neighborhood". It bothers me to see it in this manner. It reminds me of the stories Jesus tells about counting the costs of following Him. It bothers me that a house that is clearly adorned with Christian messages and imagery to be left in this state. The arms of the angels are broken off. There are weeds growing in places they shouldn't be growning. The house looks unlived in or not well maintained. There are so many other houses in this neighborhood that are beautiful and well taken care of. While outward appearances are not of much consequence in the Kingdom of God (1 Sam. 16:7), I do believe this house can teach us something. In the midst of darkness, we believers should be a beacon of light, an oasis from this fallen world. We are called to live an opposite life in comparison to the world. We should stand out....not on our own personality but on how we react in the midst of trials and how we treat others, for example. We must make sure we are carefully maintaining our faith. Let us make sure that our lives reflect Christ. We must make ourselves hospitable and available to the needs of others.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perserverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3-8)