Soul Mopping


Impressive spiritual parallels exist even in mopping a floor. Each time I swish that mop across our maple hardwood I’m amazed at how dirty it is! “Is it normal to scrape stuck-on cheerios and noodles and vigorously rub away jam and chocolate spills?” “And how long have they been there, anyway?!” I begin to wonder who has seen this and said nothing …

Every time God begins a cleansing work in one of those dark, dusty corners of my heart, I have a remarkably similar conversation with myself. “How long has THAT been there??” “How could I not have seen this sooner?” I stare wide-eyed at the stuck-on stains that God helps me rub away, and sigh at the work and time involved in cleaning just this one little corner. I may lean on my mop in pause to brood over who may have already seen this and judged me, or I may criticize myself for having allowed it to get this bad. I shake away useless thoughts and continue to swish and scrape.

One day, my kids will grow old and not spill as much jam and chocolate on the floor. I entertain the notion that one day I won’t need to rub and scrape my floor clean. That is, of course, until I consider grandchildren. Yup, my floor will always need mopping. Sometimes more than others, but it will continually need to be cleaned.

Okay, so maybe it’s a bit cheesy to consider ‘mopping my soul’ … but it helps me to remember that neither my floor or soul will ever remain clean no matter how hard I worked on it last time. It’s continuous work and to be expected. I’ll never arrive at a place where either is now complete. Knowing that encourages me to keep at it, and to accept the grace of Jesus for those times of cleaning and those times in between.

Helpful Verses

“Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have,
for God can be trusted to keep his promise.”
Hebrews 10:23

“And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you,
will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again.”
Philippians 1:6

’And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you,
for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ may rest upon me.’
2 Corinthians 12:9

If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy "God's Grace for a Sticky Toddler".

2 comments:

Sab said...

I am amazed at how quickly things get dirty. Even five minutes after cleaning my house it looks dirty in certain areas again. I like your analogy... makes me think of how often I should take a look at the floors of my soul and get God's help to give them a good cleaning.

Sab said...

Oh, now that I can finally comment again (and remembered to do this), I want to say that I have something for you over on my blog!