Can you see it? It’s right there. On the side of the steps. That white spot that looks like something spilled and wasn’t cleaned immediately. Yeah…that. Okay, not super-obvious, but now that you see it, isn’t it annoying? And I’m embarrassed to say that it’s been there for months.
You might be asking yourself “doesn’t she sweep the steps occasionally?” And the answer to that question would be a solid “YES!” But the first time I noticed it, I took a warm, moist paper towel and tried to wipe it off. Since it didn’t come right off, AND I was in cleaning mode and was moving on to another area, I thought “I’ll take care of it another day. No one really notices it anyway.”
Then time passed, and some more time and here we are. So today will be the day I get rid of this spot. Of course I tried the warm, moist paper towel again, LOL! Not sure what I was thinking since it didn’t work the first time. It was totally baked on there. Couldn’t even scratch it off with my nail. (Nails are good cleaning tools, we all know this!) Then I thought I might need to scrape it off with a sharp edge so I got my handy dandy Wusthoff knife.
Looks pretty bad, right? After going at this for a few minutes, I thought I might be damaging the wood, which then I’d have to explain to the hubby. Then the light bulb turned on. (Again, this doesn’t happen quickly.) I went and got the Goo Gone. Now if any you have ever tried Goo Gone, you know that it’s some serious stuff! The goo didn’t even see it coming. Within seconds, the crud was gone.
Then I felt silly for waiting so long to clean it.
Then I got to thinking. Letting this crusty spot sit here for so long is very much like the unresolved sin in our lives. We see it, we know it’s there and it’s not really bothering anybody, but it’s tugging at us. We clean up our lives around it and we say to ourselves, “I’ll take care of that someday.”
Anger, bitterness, sexual impurity, resentment, unforgiveness, indifference to God’s word……are all unresolved sin stuck in the corners of our heart. And we carry the guilt of not being a better person and removing it from our lives. We live in shame. All the while, our exterior being damaged by what it’s doing to us. We have negative attitudes, we curse instead of bless others, we don’t speak love.
Why don’t we try this. Instead of taking our nails (guilt), or worse, a sharp knife (shame) to remove the gunk out of our lives, let Jesus be the Goo Gone to remove that crusty, unresolved sin. Confess it and get it out of your life and let Jesus restore that shine! I guarantee you, you’ll look like new….and He won’t leave a scratch. <3
Read Revelation 21:5 and trust Him!
