The Shower

You know that feeling you have after a really good shower - one after you've been especially sweaty and gross? You're so clean, your skin is exfoliated and pure, your hair is silky smooth, and you just feel good. Not a lot of feelings in this world quite compare to the refreshing feel after a good shower. But there's also the possibility of a bad shower. I found this out in Italy where our hotels quite obviously installed showers as an afterthought. Hardly big enough to get inside and shut the door, you couldn't move once you were in there. The water had little pressure and it took a good ten minutes to get the soap out of your hair. When you finally were able to fully rinse off, It wasn't even really worth it because you still felt unclean getting out - definitely not the refreshing shower we all would want after walking around the sites of Ancient Rome for ten hours!

How often do we go to a shower that promises to make us clean and wash away all the dirt from the day, only to come away feeling burdened, unrefreshed, and frustrated? We go out with friends after work for an evening of fun and relaxation, only to feel exhausted the next morning. We spend hours on the internet trying to distract from the things that bear us down, only to be burdened by new things we find there. There are a number of other places that we go to purge and cleanse the thoughts and memories of our days and make us feel light and clean; and yet all of them leave us feeling still just a bit unclean and unfulfilled.

But there is a shower that promises that we will be completely clean, refreshed, and unburdened. It can heal beyond the depth of our skin and cleanse our heart and soul with a power unlike anything else. Just as a shower with good water pressure has a massaging feel on our skin yet is not hard enough to be painful, so Jesus Christ's blood has the power behind it to massage the impurities from our hearts and leave us feeling clean and new.

Just as we go unclothed into a shower, we go before the Lord with a bare heart. A good, refreshing shower does not leave one small area untouched that we aren't ready to have cleaned yet. Rather, it washes all impurities away, leaving us clean and new. God does the same in creating a clean heart in us. He simply asks that we do not keep any part of us from His healing rain. It's not always a pleasant experience to allow God to cleanse our hearts. Think of those times when you've had paint or mud stuck to your skin that took a little extra scrubbing. Sometimes our hearts take a little extra scrubbing too, and for a little while it may be a bit raw and tender; but God promises us to heal our broken hearts and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, so that raw tenderness with eventually become pure and whole.

God is urging us to come and stand in His shower while He washes away our impurities and burdens. He has provided us with a cleansing flood that will leave us refreshed and pure before Him so we can live our lives freely under His blessings. Will you step into His shower? I challenge you to come to Him completely open, baring all, so that He can bring about healing and cleansing to your soul. This is not simply something to do of your own bidding, or of my encouragement. Bring the matters of your heart to the Lord in prayer, because once you ask Him to cleanse you fully, you can't go back. It can be scary letting God see every part of you, but when you have faith and trust in His love for you, you will see that all He wants for you is good.

Psalm 51, a Psalm of David

Have mercy on me, O God,
    because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
    blot out the stain of my sins.
 Wash me clean from my guilt.
    Purify me from my sin.
For I recognize my rebellion;
    it haunts me day and night.
 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
    I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
    and your judgment against me is just.^[a]
 For I was born a sinner—
    yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
 But you desire honesty from the womb,^[b]
    teaching me wisdom even there.

 Purify me from my sins,^[c] and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
 Oh, give me back my joy again;
    you have broken me—
    now let me rejoice.
 Don’t keep looking at my sins.
    Remove the stain of my guilt.
 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
    Renew a loyal spirit within me.
 Do not banish me from your presence,
    and don’t take your Holy Spirit^[d] from me.

 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and make me willing to obey you.
Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
    and they will return to you. Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
    then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
 Unseal my lips, O Lord,
    that my mouth may praise you.

 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
    You do not want a burnt offering.
 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
    You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.