Daily
Devotional

Recently, I moved into a new place. It took a while to unpack all my belongings and buy the items my new home was lacking, but within just a couple of weeks I felt settled. Then, I cleaned the whole house from top to bottom, and it was just beautiful. There was not a crumb on the carpet, not a single spot on the bathroom mirror, and the kitchen floors seemed to shine. Perfect!  

How disappointing it was when I saw the first footprint on my kitchen floor, only a few hours after I had finished cleaning. I must have gotten something on my shoes, because I soon realized there was not just one footprint, but a whole footpath. Within a day or two I had splashed water on my bathroom mirror, and I am sure there were at least a few crumbs on the carpet before long. Even though I had not done anything to purposefully make a mess, the dust was accumulating.

Remember the day you were saved? You felt so clean and pure, so close to the Lord. But as time goes by, the cares of life can set in and the devil so cleverly tries to slip in a wedge here and there. He wants to diminish the work God has done in our lives by slowly wearing us down. We might have a disagreement with a family member, see something distasteful while out running errands, or simply get stressed out by daily concerns. Before we know it, that “clean” feeling is gone, even though we did nothing wrong.

If this starts to happen, we need to ask for a fresh touch from God! Just as a house will inevitably get dirty unless it is cleaned regularly, our relationship with God will diminish unless we actively maintain it through reading His Word and talking to Him in prayer.  

Another thing that helps to keep a house clean is trying to limit our messes in the first place. My house would never be clean if I wore muddy shoes inside, and spiritually speaking, we cannot stay clean and pure if we invite evil into our lives. Think about how we spend our spare time—what do we watch on TV and what are we reading? What do we look at on the internet and what do we listen to? Are these things that distract us from God and weaken our relationship with Him? Satan sets traps in all of these places—filth that will discourage us and even tempt us to sin.

Our focus verse says that those with clean hands will be “stronger and stronger.” It takes work to maintain cleanness and purity, but we will be stronger Christians for it. God is faithful to show us when an area of our lives needs cleaning, and if we go to Him in earnest prayer, He will never turn us away.