...clean

Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean. 

— Ezekiel 36:25 KJV 

My Maggie is an artist; she likes to draw. Being the exuberant soul she is, she prefers larger surfaces. A big white wall is irresistible; tabletops are attractive too. In a pinch Maggie will draw on herself if indelible markers are available.  

Maggie’s fascination with drawing is unique in my parenting experience. When she executed her first large-scale masterpiece, I used the technique that had worked with my other children: I handed her a sponge and made her scrub the wall. It was a big job for a two-and-a-half-year-old, and Maggie didn’t like it at all. But the next day she rushed up to me eagerly and said, “I need a sponge, Mommy! I drawed on the floor!”  

Such persistence is not a matter of mere stubbornness. For Maggie, the joy of swirling a crayon in full-arm rotation is so immense that it has nothing to do with the idea that she’s only supposed to draw on paper. She doesn’t realize she’s being disobedient. Since she’s only two, I don’t find that particularly surprising. She has time to learn.  

I’m a long way from being two. I no longer draw on walls, and I manage to avoid a lot of bigger no-no’s. But there are still many times each day when I do what I feel like doing, without considering what God wants me to do. All too often it’s only when I’m in bed mentally reviewing the day that I even realize that I was disobedient.  

Unlike Maggie, I’m not always cheerful about saying I’m sorry. I’m never quite as willing to admit I’ve done wrong or as eager to get back to the drawing board. But maybe that will come with time.  

I’ve done it again, Lord. Come, wash me clean. ~ Julia Attaway  

Digging Deeper: Psalm 51:7; Isaiah 1:18; John 15:3  

It’s easy to race through the day and not even recognize when we’re straying from what God wants us to do, or even veering straight into what we know is wrong to do. As His kids, though, all we have to do is ask to be scrubbed clean. We’re already loved and already forgiven!