Good Friday and Toilets

Now that you are totally caught off guard, let me explain my Easter weekend to you and how this title came to be.

We had some friends driving up over the weekend, and as part of our routine when people come to visit we follow this statement: If the toilets are clean and the kitchen is washed, grab a seat on the couch, no need to mop.  Even though we do mop, everywhere and vacuum the rest, we always ensure that the kitchen and the bathroom are the cleanest rooms in the house.  I'd explain but this post isn't about why, just that it happened.

If you really want to know ask me in the comment section, I'll explain there.

So the kitchen is clean, the bedrooms are made up, the laundry pile is moved to the laundry room, blankets are set out fresh, floors are clean and one thing it left to do.  The toilets.  I hate this job.  But it needs to be done.  So we grab the vim and the brush and a rag and get to work.  3 toilets to scrub, 3 sinks, 1 bath and 1 shower stall.  Not bad, except again I hate cleaning toilets.  But it got done.

Now for the interesting thought process I went through, on Good Friday afternoon, while scrubbing the grime from the toilet bowl.

It occurred to me that my life may have appeared the way an unclean toilet does.  The outside can be spotless, sparkling even and some may mistakingly comment that you could eat off the lid (never do that).  But when you lift the lid what you see is the build up of mildew, the sight and therefor knowledge that one of the children forgot to flush, and a fear of what may be lurking under the rim or the bowl.  The mere thought of it has you thinking of buying a hazmat suit.  But it needs to be done.

Here's my thought process.  This is so nasty, and to be cleaning on Good Friday, should have done this yesterday.  Wow what was that, so gross.  At least I can reflect on the cross while doing this.  Wait did my life resemble this at one point.  Did the cross take the filth of my life and clean it, would God have said I once was a likened to a toilet?  I mean really, we can all represent well on the exterior, but God looks to the heart of man, is this my reality, have I been made clean on the inside just as I am cleaning the toilet now?

My conclusion: yes, that's exactly what happened.  Am I contrasting the work of the cross, taking away the stain of sin to the work of me cleaning the toilet and it's stains?  Yes I am, because even though I was always presentable on the out side, designed by the creativity and majesty of a loving God, it was the inside that he wants to have as presentable, cleaning away all that I have stored within me and causing me to be stain free.

Was this a strange development for Good Friday, not within my train of thought.  Maybe this comparison is a little off the wall for you, but I am content in realizing I was not made clean by good works or good looks, but by the cross, and let me tell you, I was a mess.