Plants And A Bird Bath

I was enjoying some time sitting on my porch swing this morning and noticed that my outside plants were needing a drink of water.

I turned on the hose, gave the plants a drink and then noticed that the bird bath also needed refilling. This is a new thing for me. Plants and a bird bath. It is a beautiful morning. The sun is shining and the underground watering system is on making the water droplets sparkle like diamonds on the grass. It is an idyllic scene.

Then, the detail part of my brain kicks in. Not only did the bird bath bring birds, which caused great rejoicing, but all of a sudden, I see what the birds brought. Birdie poo!

Yep, sure enough, I notice A spot on the deck. I move the hose to hit the white mound. It doesn't move. I adjust the nozzle so that the force of the water increases. A direct hit removes the unwanted spot.

There is another dawning in my thought process. I begin to peruse more of the deck area. More white spots. I glance at the patio chairs....oh no....more white spots.

I continue to blast the dookey crop with the water. Some of the spots have been there awhile and are dried hard onto the wood. Those, I have to soak awhile, go away and then come back to them.

Before watering the plants I had been reading a book called Walking With God by John Eldridge. My mind is already primed by my reading for hearing messages from God.

Clear as day, I see a parrallel.

The lesson springs forth.

The sin in my life is so much like what I have just experienced. I can almost hear Jesus, as he sits on my swing, talking to me about that bird dookey and my every day life.

God's mercies are new EVERY morning. I am washed clean. I sin ( the bird dookey). If I repent quickly, the sin washes away so easily. If I let the sin sit there awhile, it hardens in my life....

When I repent...the effects of those hardened on sins take awhile to get washed out of my life. Sometimes I have to return to them over and over to get them totally wiped out of my heart.

Sometimes, I don't even notice the sin just like I had not noticed the birdie poo. It has been days since I washed the deck off (shall I confess, that in reality, it has been weeks!!!).

Now that I have noticed one spot, I look, and the mess is everywhere. How could I have been so blinded as not to have seen it before today. I KNOW it has HAD to have been there. I walked over it. I lived with it. I probably even SAT IN IT.

Ah...but the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

I finished cleaning off the deck and sat back down on the porch swing. I watched the water dripping off the patio table. Again, I see a lesson. Once I've been washed clean ...there is an after affect in the spiritual as well. That grace just keeps on dripping.

My pant legs are damp from the washing..........and my heart is cleansed from the dawning of the realization. I will carry the lesson with me throughout the morning....until I get distracted and dried out and birds come in and poo .....

I could wash the deck every morning....but will I? What will I let interupt me tomorrow? What have I let interupt me that I thought more important in previous days?

Thank you, Jesus. You have cleaned my heart as I have cleaned my deck. I sure am glad you dropped by this morning.