Today I took a shower at 11am and it felt like a mini vacation! Ha ha! That seems quite dramatic, but true. Maybe a blissful shower is not strange to you, but for me it’s definitely out of the norm and I found this one to be exceptionally sweet! 

Usually my showers are either super rushed early in the morning or completely exhausting late at night. Those are the showers when I can’t even remember if I already washed my hair or not, so end up washing it twice. Some days it’s like a mission – hurry up and get’er done mate and get on with your day. Many have been interrupted but someone needing something …. Mommas know this dilemma far too well! 

This late morning, however, I actually had time to not feel rushed, to think and listen to my thoughts and all I could think about was how wonderful it is to get clean. It was like in that moment, I could almost feel the water washing away even more than dirt. I stood there silent, sensing the whisper of the Lord, “I have washed you and made you white as snow”. The song lyrics “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus” quickly came into my mind, and as I hummed the tune, I sensed an invitation from the Lord to allow Him to wash away even more than that. The invitation was to take a little time and think about some of my worries, mistakes, negativity, hurtful words, pain, bad choices, regret, disappointment, frustration., whatever popped into my head in that moment and thank Him for washing it away. Good thing no one was home because I began to say out loud, “Thank you God for washing away this ___________ “. I filled in the blank several times, and I pictured each thing going right down the drain. It was a long shower! But it was so beneficial and so wonderful, that when that water bill comes, I’m not going to care one little bit! I felt clean!

So that’s a personal ,funny story, and maybe you are thinking, “that’s a nice analogy, but the only thing washing down the drain is water and soap bubbles”! Well, yes in the natural, but let’s not throw the “truth” baby out with the bath water! You see, the truth is that He did it! Our precious Savior, Jesus Christ, washed away our sin when He died for us. When we turn to Him, He also washes away our shame, our rejection, our fear. We are able to invite Him, daily, to wash away our worries and fill us with hope. He rejoices over us with songs of deliverance, songs that was away our hurts, our pasts, and every lie that we have bought into. He delights in us and delivers us. He answers us each time we call to Him, asking us to cleanse us, to renew us, to restore us and to create in us something new. 

The Psalmist invited God to do these very things in Psalm 51. Verse 2 says, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” Verses 7 sings out, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” And finally verses 10-12 become the sweetest invitation of all to the Lord, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.” I love the Psalmist! So real! So raw! So much truth and emotion! He was not afraid to say where he was really at or how he really felt but He always brought all of it straight to God, knowing He was faithful and that He could do it. 

He still does it! He still takes the dirt and the grime of our days, our choices, our pasts, our thoughts, and He washes them away. He never wants us to stay right where we are. His desire is never for us to stay just as we are, even though He loves us right where we are. You can twist the word to justify your sin as much as you want, but God’s Word never will. Because His whole story line is about getting clean! It’s about the old becoming new. The darkness becomes light! His story is about resurrection. His strength in our weakness. His love that redeems and changes and restores and redefines. He is all about giving us ways out and leading us NOT into temptation. We are never stuck – not even because a person or our past or a personality test says this is who we are and will always be. He makes a way. He changes us. He helps us be who He calls us to be in any given situation or in any season. His hands lift us out of our mirey, filthy and slimy pits and set our feet on HIM, our ROCK, the TRUTH, a firm foundation (not the foundation we try and create)! 

He is so good. He is so kind. His love is so strong, that we don’t have to stay like we are. We don’t have to wallow in our sin, our shame, our guilt, our fear, our worry, our strife, our pride, our sadness, our …. yes the list goes on! Instead, we get to invite Him and allow Him to wash it all away, right down the drain, and create in us a clean heart, new perspectives, right choices, whole thinking, a new mind, and fill us with truth and hope and faith and love. Every good gift comes from the Father above! Yay for that promise! And guess what? You don’t need to go jump in the shower to gain this revelation!! You don’t have to use soap to get this kind of clean! All you have to do is ask God to do it right now. Invite Him, just as the Psalmist did, to wash you white as snow! There’s no water bill for GETTING CLEAN!