Big and Tiny Messes

“But I have this against you: you have abandoned the love (you had) at first.” Revelation 2:4

I love to purchase cleaning supplies that have just come out on the market. If the product in the commercial seems like it really works, it becomes a must have on my grocery list. For instance, I love cleaning wipes, and not too long ago, found some that have an amazing citrus scent, with an abrasive side that scrubs away tougher messes, plus each wipe has a spritz of Clorox, which won my little housewife heart over. The first few weeks I had these wipes, I used them on everything.  At first it did not matter if the job was tiny, small, medium or really tough, I just loved the smell and the final result it delivered.  It made even my husband happy to walk into the kitchen or restroom and smell a clean-lemony room, not to mention how my countertops and sinks looked.  Then, one day I didn’t use them, as well as the next few days, until my little four year old, decided it would be a good idea to put his already open juice box inside his lunch bag and leave it on the seat of the car while we drove to school one morning. This was a big mess and a big mess called for these tough wipes. By the way, I would like to add, I was not cleaning the car seat with a smile like the mom’s they show on the Bounty commercials, but that’s another story.  I put the wipes back inside my cleaning supply caddy, and are only, “in use,” when I have Big messes.

Do you remember a point in your life, when your relationship with God was exciting and always “IN USE”? Do you remember loving to use His word to clean up tiny, small, medium and tough messes? Do you also remember when you started to use Him and His word only when you had big messes?

Some people say they have hindrances that do not allow them to keep a passionate, “IN USE,” or alive relationship with God. However, I have been thinking that the biggest and maybe only hindrances each one of us have in our lives are, “The Daily routines.” We are focused on waking up no more than 10 minutes past our alarm sounding, avoiding another tardy at school or work, making sure the house is clean, smelling clean, food is ready, laundry folded, homework assisted with and completed, and so on, that we leave God out. The daily routines do not let us pick up God and His word to maintain a clean spiritual life daily, it does not let us use His word to wipe away tiny or small messes anymore.  We only break the daily routine when we are presented with a big mess, then we look into our caddy and pick up one of the dusty bibles that abound around the house. We remember that our knees were not only meant for walking but for kneeling to pray as well, and He, our Glorious, merciful God, produces an amazing result when we do, He cleans up the mess. But He must feel so used.

The key verse is found in Revelations when God is telling the church in Ephesus that yes He is happy with a few things they have done correctly, O but one thing He is so upset about is that they do not seek Him and love Him like when they first found Him. Are you there today friend? The verse continues by God declaring, repent, and do the works you did at first, repent. Come back to that time in your life when you were so excited you had discovered an awesome love that could wipe away any type of mess, from the tiniest to the toughest, a mess growing inside your heart or a mess around you.