Spring Cleaning

We have a counter in our home covered in a strange, ugly, tan, bumpy tile. It’s been there since we moved in almost twenty years ago, but it’s just one of those things we live with, because what do you do with ugly tile? 

Well:

1. Google told me I could attach pretty peel-and-stick stickers that look like tile over each one. Alas. We have more than a hundred tiles. And, they’re bumpy, so no way those stickers lay flat. 

2. Pinterest suggested I stencil them. Again, see tile number. If there were four or five tiles maybe. But, umm, no.

3. A friend told me her sister-in-law painted her floor tile. And it worked. She sent me the instructions which entailed scrubbing the tile spotless, sealing the tile and letting it dry for ages, then painting the tile with a super durable paint. I was game for the first step, and my painter (I’m not that handy with a paintbrush) was willing to try the next two. Winning idea!

I grabbed a bottle of all-purpose cleaner and steel wool and went to work. The surface was clean enough, but the grout had collected grime over the decades. I scrubbed those tiles and that grout, because if you don’t get it uber clean the sealing stuff won’t stick and then neither will the paint. I got cuts on my fingers from scrubbing so hard with steel wool. At that point, I realized I should have been wearing gloves. Live and learn. 

After the scrub down, I wiped down the surface to get rid of the streaks and smears of deep dirt I’d gotten out of the crevices. Then I did it again, this time simply cleaning like a normal person. Two more times to get those final smears and smudges that kept showing up on my white paper towels. Why?

Because dirt is tricky and long lasting. It crawls into places we don’t even know are there. I swear, I wipe down those counters on the regular.

My painter came and the result was stunning. Like cannot-believe-my-eyes-these-are-the-same-counters. They’re so white and bright and shiny. Like new only better.

Our lives are filled with dirt too. The ugly thing someone said that splashed on us this afternoon. The stain from the thing we wish we would have never done when we were younger. The relationship that forever smudged us. That person who hurt us. That opportunity we weren’t chosen for. That thing we keep doing we know we should do less of. The thing we aren’t doing we know we should do more. They pile up. And accumulate. And then other things stick to the eww and goo, like guilt and shame.

We need a good deep cleaning. We know it. No one wants to feel grimy. So we get out our figurative spray bottles and steel wool—to do lists, life hacks, and self-improvement strategies. And there’s nothing wrong with taking care of ourselves and stepping into good decisions. Those are great things. But alone, they don’t, can’t get us clean. 

The figurative steel wool cuts our skin and the back and forth makes our arms sore and the smell of the strong cleaner makes us queasy. And even if we scrub and scrub and go back over the surface and dig deep into the grout, it seems we’ll never get completely clean. There’s still regret in that grout and a heartache deep in that crack that seeped in long ago.

But Jesus.

“Come now, let us settle the matter,”

    says the Lord.

“Though your sins are like scarlet,

    they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red as crimson,

    they shall be like wool.—Isaiah 1:18

Jesus came to cleanse us from the inside out. We don’t have to spray or scrub. No need for cuts or sore muscles. Because He took all the pain and suffering on the cross. We don’t have to wonder if there’s anything we missed. He got it all. Every sin, misstep, poor decision, we made—they’re gone. Every nasty remark, awful thing someone else did to us, every way we were manipulated or shamed, Jesus erases that too. And then we don’t just look like a clean counter. We look like a counter with a fresh coat of white paint and glossy sealant.  Because we are cleaned by Christ’s blood, sealed by His promise, and painted a bright, durable, lasting white by His love. 

It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This down payment from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life. —Ephesians 1:13–14 MSG

This is the life Jesus offers. You don’t have to DIY or hire a painter or go to the hardware store to get the supplies. There isn’t a list of detailed instructions or required drying times. All you have to do is ask Jesus. Right now. Today. Your before and after pics will be breathtaking. You’ll be better than new. You’ll be the loved, cherished, masterpiece God always intended you to be.

Jesus, I want you to do a makeover of my soul. Please wash me clean of my sin and shame, of the lies I’ve believed, the ways I’ve been hurt and discouraged, and the things I’ve done. I don’t want it anymore. I want You instead. I believe what You did on the cross cleaned me forever. I accept the love you offer. Amen.

–Written by Laura Smith. Used by permission from the author.