DID YOU USE SOAP?

When I was about 9-10 years old, I hated taking a shower (luckily for those who know me, this trend did not carry into my adult life).  Generally, my mom would tell me to go take a shower and I would go into the bathroom, turn on the water and just hang out for a few minutes.  After several minutes of the water running, I would jump in, get wet and get right back out (I know, I was a brilliant child…filthy, but brilliant).  I would then exit the bathroom still soaking wet, so as to provide evidence that I was clean.  My mom would then ask me if I bathed, to which I would reply, ‘yes’.  Then, my mom would ask the dreaded question, ‘Did you use soap?’ (Perhaps I was not as brilliant as I thought).  My mom would then proceed to check the tub and washcloth, like a CSI detective, for traces of soap, and inevitably each time I would have to get back in and actually…you know…bathe.

Anyway, as I reminisce about my dirt caked childhood, I wonder how many of us are guilty of the same thing.  On the surface, I was attempting to appear as though I was clean; while the reality was that I was filthy.  Jesus warned against such behavior as it pertained to our spiritual lives.  In Matthew 23:25 he states, “For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy…” As it was with Jesus’ audience, the truth is that we are so often more concerned about how we appear to man than how we appear before God.

The funny thing is that people are searching for true authenticity. Frankly, they’re tired of the stench.  They despise the hypocrisy and are skeptically searching for spiritual integrity.  Which begs the question, who are you when no one is looking?  Are you as clean as you appear?  Has your life truly been transformed by grace, or is righteousness simply a mask you wear?  Like the child who emerges soaking wet from the bathroom, are you secretly hoping that no one will find out how bad you really stink? 

Cutest Blog Post Ever (Of Course I'm Biased)

A Gentle Whisper

1 Kings 19:11-13 - The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

It takes intense focus to hear a “gentle whisper.”  You have to ignore the distractions and really lean in and listen to hear what is being said.  You have to allow the person who is whispering to come close and get into your personal space.  This is how God often speaks to us. 

The problem is that we have so many things competing for our attention.  There is so much noise in our lives…so many distractions.  Each morning, when the alarm clock sounds, we’re off to the races.  From morning coffee to midnight snack, our schedules are blinding.  Our focus has shifted from the reality of God’s presence to the circumstances of the world we in which we live.  We are not willing to quiet our lives…to really lean in and listen to His voice.  When he does speak we often can’t hear His voice.  We do not make ourselves available to Him, yet we expect Him to do what we want, when we want it done (like God is our mystical genie in a bottle).  However, we are not willing to do what He wants, when he wants it done.  We have ignored Him, but in our moment of crisis we wonder where he is.  The sad truth is that He never left us, but we left him. Unfortunately, many of us have turned our back on Him and are running from His purpose in our lives.

Can you hear His voice amidst the noise as he asks, “What are you doing here”? 

Can you hear Him as he is calling you to turn your heart back to Him, to shift your focus to His voice, and to make Him and His purpose for your life the priority?

John 10:27 - “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.”