Clean Bath Tub

I cleaned the bathtub today. I typically clean the bathroom once a week and wipe the tub out every other week. But today, I deep cleaned the bathtub to get all the soap scum and hard water deposits off. 

I knew that this task was overdue and that it was something that needed to be done after several months. However, I did not realize until I started just how dirty the bathtub was. With every swipe of the Magic Eraser I was taking off layers of soap scum. 

I was not looking for any praise for this completed chore, however, after my wife saw the tub, she thanked me for cleaning it and told me just how nice it looked. 

Then it struck me, the cleanness of the tub was obvious, she did not need a before and after picture. I thought, "we don't realize the filth that we're sitting in until after we see it all stripped away".

And isn't this true of our lives as well? Most of us sit for years in our own "filth" - whether that be an addiction, abuse, depression, worry, or many other things. And, for most, we do not realize the extent of our filth until it has all be striped away. Month after month - year after year - we allow the feelings of sorrow, hatred, worry, or doubt to accumulate. Every month that we sit in our " filth" makes cleaning it up more difficult. And, for some, they never see the beauty of a clean, healthy life. 

The great news for us is that we do not have to clean up our "filth" ", we simply have to turn our lives - our past, present, and future - over to God. He filters our "filth" through the sacrifice of Chrst and sees our beauty, cleaning out "filth" up and helping us see the beauty around us and allowing us to live a clean life in Him. 

Change In Perspective

I sat at the dinner table after supper tonight. The kids had finished and gone downstairs to play. My wife had gone to the kitchen to begin the evening cleanup and dishes. 

As I sat I looked at our living room - the main gathering room of our home, which I have sat in and looked at for the past three and a half years. But this evening the living room appeared different. 

Our living room looked different for one reason; I was sitting with my head bent upside-down. Suddenly the entire room changed - the window height was different, the pictures hung differently, the ceiling took the place of the floor, and everything was reversed. 

Then I began to think about perspective. There are various areas of our lives that we become comfortable in, areas that we look at and deal with almost every day. 

But what if our perspective is altered just a bit and we look at these areas differently? What if we force ourselves to take on fresh eyes in order to see everything in a new way? Either this can change the reality of our situation - causing us to approach life and deal with situations differently - or it could confirm that what we are doing is working - that it is, in fact the best way. 

So, what areas of you life or your present reality need a bit of altering or questioning? Perhaps a change in perspective - even for a moment - is what is required.