Clean Up!

     I haven't mentioned my 2 and 3 year old Bible class in a while; but I do love teaching that age group.  Sometimes they are quite the challenge, but these children are very special to me.  I'm so thankful I have the chance to love them so much and maybe teach them a little. 
    A favorite activity recently is a particular interactive flip chart.  I've used it frequently over the years.  Each page is a room in house ... a bedroom, a kitchen, a playroom, etc.  One of the pages has a toy box on it.  The children can lift a flap that is the "lid" of the toy box.  There are toys inside .... but there are also toys around the toy box on the outside of it.    
     Well, Wednesday night when we got to this page, the first thing one of my students said was "Ooh, he needs to clean up his room!"  Ha!  Something tells me this young man has heard that somewhere before.   One reason I love little children is because they are so real and so honest.  They often say exactly what is in their minds.  Such was my student's reaction to what he saw as a "messy" room. 
       What is more important than noticing a room that needs to be "cleaned up" is noticing when our hearts and lives need cleansing.  David had chosen to look over his sin against God when he slept with Bathsheba and had Uriah killed.  That is until Nathan, the prophet, brought it to his attention; in essence telling David he needed to clean up his act.  When the King faced what he had done, it prompted such godly sorrow that he wrote Psalm 51 and begged God for forgiveness.  
        I love this beautiful Psalm of David.  We can all learn from David's humility as he admits his sin before God.  In verse 2, he asked to wash him thoroughly and cleanse him from his sins.  David begs in verse 7 "Purge me with hyssop, and  I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow."   And finally in verse 10 we read David's plea that God create in him a clean heart and renew a right spirit within him.   He knew he needed God's help to clean up his life.
     Many, many other scriptures refer to being clean.  Lepers begged Jesus to heal them, to make them clean.  And our Savior had so much love in his heart that he granted their requests.  In Matthew 8, we see the compassion of Christ as he reached out and touched a leper and made him clean.  Another time he cleansed 10 lepers of this terrible disease and only one returned to express his gratitude. 
       Christ warned the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23 that it is not the outside of the cup and plate that needs to be cleaned but the inside because the inside is full of greed and self-indulgence.  Those two are always a dangerous combination.  It is our heart and minds that we need to keep clean and pure to stay in step with Jesus.  Peter tells us " as He who called you is holy, be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy."  (I Peter 1:15-16, ESV). 
       Our sins are washed away through baptism.  Saul was told to "rise and be baptized and wash away your sins."  (Acts 22:16)  It is through  baptism that we contact the saving blood of Jesus Christ which has the power to save us from our sins.  Our precious Redeemer Himself said in Mark 16:16, "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved."
        As Christians we must remember that we should always stay clean and live as we know we have been washed of our sins.  Can people tell that we are followers of the Savior by the way we act?  Are we holy in all our conduct, as Peter commends us to be?  Or do people look at us and think, as my little Bible student,  "ooh, he/she needs to clean up?" 
        People -- the world -- should be able to see the change in our lives .. the difference in our behavior.  Some of my favorite verses in the entire Bible are found in 1 Corinthians 6:9-12.  I've mentioned this scripture in at least one other post.  I love it.  For the sake of time, I will only quote part of the part of the passage.  Verse 9 begins:
        "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not
         inherit the kingdom of God?" 
      Guided by the Holy Spirit, Paul goes on to list those who will not be part of God's kingdom.  Then the wonderful part of this scripture comes for as we read verse 11 Paul says:
       "  And such were some of you. But you were washed,
         you were sanctified, you were justified in the name
         of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

        How beautiful is that?  When we clean up for the Lord, we change our lives.  We are holy as our Father is holy.  We do not behave as the world behaves.  And we are justified in Christ's name.  In 2 Corinthians 7:1 Paul says, "Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God." 
        If we clean up our act, we become vessels of honor and we are useful to the Master, ready for every good work.  (2 Timothy 2:21).   Finally, our brother John tells us "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." (I John 1:7)
        Why is it so important that we clean up?  Why should we be holy in our conduct and become vessels of honor so that we can serve the Master?  Why should we want a clean heart and have our sins washed away?   Well, the answer is explained wonderfully well by Jesus Christ Himself.
        It is because He said, "The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels."  (Revelation 3:5)
         I want to be there, don't you?  Let's clean up!

Christ above all things,
Robin