EVERYDAY ADVENTURES

Spring Cleaning

I should have never used the pressure washer. Sure, the vinyl siding on the north end of my house was starting to look like a swamp, and yes, the pressure washer was just sitting in my shed collecting dust. But once I started down that road there was no going back.

I’d had this hand-me-down power hose for a couple of years along with plenty of good intentions to use it. However, cleaning my siding sounded like a lot of work, and I always had more urgent chores demanding my attention. Besides, camouflage clothing was making a comeback. Why not camouflage houses?

Eventually, though, when it looked like the mildew on my siding was longer than the grass growing beneath it, I decided to take action. I dug the pressure washer out from the back corner of my shed, hooked up the hose and went to town.

If you’ve never used a pressure washer, it’s basically like holding a jetpack in your hands and firing it at whatever you want to clean. I thought I was going to have to have my wife and kids hold onto my ankles just to keep me from blasting off. I may have had the pressure turned up a bit high.

If you’ve never used a pressure washer, it’s basically like holding a jetpack in your hands and firing it at whatever you want to clean. I thought I was going to have to have my wife and kids hold onto my ankles just to keep me from blasting off. I may have had the pressure turned up a bit high.

After five minutes of scouring my siding, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I could see a patch of light gray sparkling in a sea of green. So that’s what color my house really was! Who knew? In contrast the mildew looked more disgusting than ever. Now, I was all in. I couldn’t stop until I’d finished the job.

The only problem was, when it comes to pressure washing, you’re never really done. Once I’d scoured the wall by my patio, the patio itself appeared dingy in comparison. So then I moved onto the concrete, destroying the grime with my unrelenting jet of water.

The patio gleamed like never before, but then that made the picnic table sitting next to it look shabby. And on and on it went.

By the time I stopped for the day, I’d pressure washed my front porch, sidewalk, fence, lawn furniture and another entire wall of my house. The whole thing shimmered like a polished jewel, which, of course, made everything nearby look filthy.

By the time I stopped for the day, I’d pressure washed my front porch, sidewalk, fence, lawn furniture and another entire wall of my house. The whole thing shimmered like a polished jewel, which, of course, made everything nearby look filthy.

I had no idea what a disgusting world I’d been living in until I saw a part of it truly clean. I wish I could say it ended there, but once I’d hosed down everything I owned, I started judging other people’s dirty houses too. Especially privacy fences. Every time I drove by a house with a wooden fence, I found myself wanting to stop and ask permission to wash it for them just for my own peace of mind.

Once you catch a glimpse of the pristine, it ruins you to everything else. It’s true in the physical world, but even worse when it comes to the spiritual realm. Just ask anyone in the Bible who ever caught a glimpse of God.

Once you catch a glimpse of the pristine, it ruins you to everything else. It’s true in the physical world, but even worse when it comes to the spiritual realm. Just ask anyone in the Bible who ever caught a glimpse of God.

A man named Isaiah saw a vision of God once, perfect and radiant in His majesty. Isaiah’s response? “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5, NIV).

For the first time in Isaiah’s life, he saw what clean really looked like, and it changed the way he saw everything else.

In the light of God’s perfection Isaiah saw himself as he truly was: the good, the bad and ugly.

Mainly the last two. Not exactly a pleasant experience.

It’s easy to feel good about ourselves if we compare ourselves to other people. Hey, at least I’m not as bad as that guy! But compared to God? A being of pure goodness? That’s a different story.

Thankfully, though, God doesn’t show up just to point out the sludge in our hearts but to save us from it. God has seen us at our worst and chooses to love us anyway. Even better, he makes a way for us to become clean.

We live in a culture that loves to take people’s biggest failures and plaster them all over the news and social media. But God? He takes our failures and plastered them to the cross. Our shame became his shame. Our dirt, his dirt.

We live in a culture that loves to take people’s biggest failures and plaster them all over the news and social media. But God? He takes our failures and plastered them to the cross. Our shame became his shame. Our dirt, his dirt.

And what do we get in exchange? A clean slate. A fresh start. Not just once, but every day.

So if you look in the mirror and see nothing but a mess, remember God has something different to say about that. Sure, he sees the mess, but His love is more stubborn than any stain. His grace is greater than our grime.

Though a pressure washer’s job is never done, God’s forgiveness can make us clean once and for all. •

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