Romans 4:20-25 – No distrust made [Abraham] waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness." But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. (ESV)

We have been away on holiday. The day following our return home, I vacuumed the floor.

As I vacuumed, I was quite gratified to see the difference between the "before" and the "after" state — where the cleaner had done its work and removed the dirt. Like a television advertisement, not only were the black bits of fluff and grit removed, but also the carpet pile was restored to its former glory, upright and fresh, instead of its previous state of being flattened by our footfall.

Sadly, I was in need of some restorative cleaning too, even though I had been in the middle of nowhere for two weeks. This I hoped would be without too much of the beating and sweeping that the vacuum cleaner did to loosen the dirt in the carpet!

Whilst away, I had asked questions about why God had not done what I had expected of Him. This was a sure sign that someone was in need of a deep-down clean-out. I guess that my spirit was crushed by the ungodly footfall of life that I had allowed into my thoughts day by day, focusing on the stuff and not on the Creator.

There is no one who can remove our bits and pieces of dirt and fluff — sin — that accumulate in our lives, except Jesus, our Saviour. Sin is part of our human condition, and as such, sooner rather than later, it messes up the spiritual, mental, and physical aspects of our lives and of our relationship with Jesus. It seems I have a season ticket. So I went away and prayed with some friends and asked God's forgiveness for my sin.

Let us all take time today to contact a friend, to spend some time in fellowship, and to keep short accounts with Jesus.

Prayer: Lord, as we bow before Your throne, we rejoice in Your desire to restore us, and to remove from us all that is not in accord with living a God-centred life — even the hidden, awkward stuff. In the name of Jesus, we ask You, Holy Spirit, to come in and clean house. Strengthen our resolve to resist the ways of the world that are not a part of Your plan for our lives today, and leave us with a path to Your peace. Amen.

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About the author:

Rod Marshall <roderickhenrymarshall@gmail.com>
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England
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