That word is in the Bible?

Well, as I finished up cleaning and getting Peyton's room ready for Nana and Papa (we don't have a guest room), I guess the Lord continued to speak to me. I really was thinking as I cleaned about why He keeps on using cleaning as my "inspiration" (a.k.a. conviction!) for my writing lately. What is in my life that this applies to? What needs cleaned out? 

From a quick point of view, my house looks clean. I didn't get to our bedroom like I wanted. Figured I'd just shut the door on that one. Then I went to the linen closet to get sheets for the bed. The closets- a different story. I hope my mother-in-law, my mama, or no one looks in my closets! Tis true of the closets of our hearts. What is behind closed doors?

Then, as I walked many, many times back and forth, my eyes settled on this:

Yes, that is a litter box. Yes, we do have a cat. No, it doesn't stay inside. In fact, I shall dare not say just how long it has been since that cat stayed inside. Suffice it to say, we were feeling sorry for it on some cold nights.......(Yes, I am ashamed.)

I have looked at it almost every time I've walked through the dining room, which is everyday, multiple times a day. And yet, it continues to sit there. I'm not sure what actually is in it- the cat wasn't inside much. But still..... Often, I would think, "I need to get rid of that." But do nothing about it. 

A litter box.....(still ashamed).

And like a slap in the face, God spoke. A litter box. A representation of that which is disgusting. Sitting right in the middle of my "clean house." 

I think the analogy is self-explanatory. But, to be sure, I found scripture. You'd be surprised how many times the word "dung" is used in the Bible.

Philippians 3:8

The Message (MSG)

^7-9 The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness.

Again- Jesus words. Not mine. What is it that is in my heart, that I consider "righteousness of my own?" (v. 9) That which is like waste, filth in His eyes? My eyes are wet and my heart is convicted even as I type. 

Lastly, as I walked through my "clean house," I realized it is not immaculate. No, on my own it will never be. Try as I may, it will never be spotless. Neither will my heart be, except for God's grace and my confession. Then, it will be pure, cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. 
I found that the word "clean" or a form of it is found 176 times in the Bible. Here are a few.....

Ephesians 5:25-27

"....... just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless."

^{Hebrews 9:14 (The Message)-}

If that animal blood and the other rituals of purification were effective in cleaning up certain matters of our religion and behavior, think how much more the blood of Christ cleans up our whole lives, inside and out. Through the Spirit, Christ offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice, freeing us from all those dead-end efforts to make ourselves respectable, so that we can live all out for God.

"Oh, precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus."