Do I Have A Clean Plate?

Ladies and Gentlemen, feast your eyes on the state of the art tools for cleaning dishes:

The Bucket and The Drying Rack.

Here in Palestine, I now wash and dry my dishes in this way. No more simplified dishwasher. No more load, add soap, and leave. No more do what you like and come back to unload the dishes when the work is done. No, sir. Now, every dish matters. Every dirty dish takes time. Every dirty dish takes effort to clean. Are these complaints? No, not at all. They are, however, observations. Observations that are now causing me to ask more questions than before.

Q: How can I effectively use each dish before its time is "done"?

Q: Am I really wanting to dirty another dish, or is it possible to go without one? (i.e. Dip your vegetables in hummus without dirtying a plate! Eat yogurt out of its container! Eat cereal out of your hands! ...ok, lie. I still use a bowl for that one... but you get the idea.)

Q: Am I willing to wash the dishes that are in need of cleaning? ...before someone asks me to do so?

As I was washing the dishes today, I had a thought: "These dirty dishes could, perhaps, represent what sin does to the soul."

Think about it.

My soul, the plate. Sin, the dirt.

The sin I allow to fester on my soul affects everything: My relationship with God, others, and how I view myself and those around me. Sin affects my life.

Every sin. Every time.

So, then, come the questions:

Q: Am I filtering my thoughts, my words, my actions so that they ever-reflect God?

Q: Am I following God hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute, second-by-second so that dirt is not able to present itself? Or, am I allowing Satan to work during those "free" moments?

Q: Am I listening as God instructs me on how to live, or am I sitting with closed ears?

Please, please don't hear me incorrectly. I am NOT trying to pull the old, guilt card. What I AM trying to raise is the concept and challenge of keenly listening to the still, small voice of my Father... and no one else's.

Always.

I recently read a book called "I Dared To Call Him Father" ---a MUST read that mirrors this idea wonderfully. And, quite frankly, I closed the book many times... just, in awe. In awe of the author's ability to stay so in tune to the voice of the Lord. In awe of how she was able to sense when the Spirit left her. She would then retrace her thoughts and actions to discover when it left and learn what was hindering her in growing closer to God.

You can watch a YouTube video about the book here.

Wow, simply wow.

So, that is my prayer today. Praying that I would continually aim to abide with my sweet Savior. My Father. Always.

Striving to keep my plate clean. ;)