As I moved around my kitchen, putting dishes away, I felt my sock get wet. Standing just below the dishwasher there was a puddle. a puddle of warm soapy water…
And I knew there was trouble.
Our twelve year old dishwasher has seen better days. Originally, it was given to us brand new – an unexpected gift at a time when we desperately needed a working dishwasher. I won’t go into all of those details now, but suffice it to say, all these years and washing cycles later, our dishwasher has given up the ghost. With an already broken handle (which my husband had brilliantly rigged, since there is no replacement part), our faithful dishwasher decided to leak warm water all over the floor.
Lest you worry for us, we will survive. A few weeks of saving and watching for sales around town, and we’ll be on the road to a new dishwasher.
In the mean time there is this old-fashioned approach. You may have heard of it: If you fill your kitchen sink with hot soapy, foamy water, you can set your dishes in there and with a cloth, or a sponge you can get those forks and knives sparkling clean. It’s true!
Well, we’ve been sharing the opportunities to wash dishes by hand this week – and, for a number of different reasons it has been good for our whole family. It is never a bad thing to share in a bit of work. After all, no one wants to eat their dinner off of dirty plates, right?
As I took my turn at the sink yesterday, I had this thought. The same daily concern my little family is taking with our glasses, silverware, pots and pans, I should be taking with my mind, too:
from Philippians: Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
Often I spend my days viewing life with a filthy lens, my mind cloudy with the grease and grime of worldly thoughts. And what happens is exactly what you’d expect: an anxious, uneasy, complicated, even sinful life.
But when I take the time to clean my mind, as Paul suggests here, in Philippians – the Holy Spirit is able to wash and regenerate my life with His Word. Allowing my thoughts to meditate on what is true and good by His standards, my heart changes and then even my actions change.
I am so grateful for His cleansing work in my life – better than any dishwasher. And I am thankful He has the power to change my heart and mind to be more clean than the most sparkling clear glasses.
amen
daily portion 