Monday, October 20th, 2003 - Worship Through Showering

I'm about to explain the analogy that God showed me between physical and spiritual cleansing; I think on this often to help me focus on God at the start of my day, which in turn helps me to commune with Him throughout the entire day, as well.

Everyone goes through life and gets dirty; we all make mistakes and fall into sin, so we all need to be cleansed to be made new again. Admitting that we have sinned is like realizing that we need to take a shower. For some reason, it is much easier for me to remember to take a shower than it is to acknowledge my own sin; you'd think it would be the other way around, but it isn't, unfortunately.

Once we acknowledge our sin and confess it, we are standing there, naked and all alone (in the shower); we have no pride left and often feel shameful. But right away, God pours over us like water from the showerhead; this happens when we admit our dependence on Him and ask Him to come upon us and into our lives.

The real cleansing comes from Jesus Christ; He is like the soap (especially the brand name "Dove") that we cover our bodies with. He is as white an snow and has the power to wash any area of our lives that we offer to Him, just as soap can clean any part of our body to which we apply it. The extent of our cleansing stretches only as far as we surrender to God those things in which we desire to be cleansed in. In the same way, the only parts of our body that will get clean in the shower are the parts to which we apply soap. The more you scrub, the more deeper the cleansing goes; the more we surrender a certain sin up to God, the more complete its removal is. I find this true in areas where I have struggled time and time again with the same sin.

The water that rinses away the soap is like the Holy Spirit sent to the earth to take the place of Jesus after He ascended. It is refreshing to receive this water as it flows over the body. We can be sure that the soap took away the dirt from our bodies, and we can see no trace of dirt still left on us if we allowed the soap to cover our whole body. Even though we no longer can see the soap, we should never neglect to acknowledge that it was the soap, not us, that did the actual cleansing.

Perhaps one of the most difficult parts of God's forgiveness is completely accepting it by forgiving ourselves, standing without shame. The towel that dries us off is like the step we take to forgive ourselves; however, it is not nearly as difficult to take a towel and dry off (I hope not, anyway). Just as we are not finished with our showers until we dry off, we are not completely forgiven until we can forgive ourselves. Only then are we able to clothe ourselves once again, allowing us to continue on absent of shame through nakedness.

It is my desire to think on this as I shower each day, ultimately to help me remember to acknowledge God in all that is around me throughout my whole day. Maybe this doesn't help for those of you who shower at night or for those of you who don't shower every day (I'm getting better, I really am :)). I pray that God will bless you as He has blessed me with these ideas formed into an analogy.

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