SUNDAY, JUNE 9, 2013
Kitchen Floors and Repentance.
Lately as I've been sweeping, I've been thinking about how
my kitchen floor and repentance are similar.
If I don't give my floor a good scrub each week, it gets dirtier and
dirtier until we're sticking to it...and there are more dirty spots then clean
floor. Definitely know this from
personal and recent experience ;0) BUT,
the weeks I do mop and get it sparkly clean, I am much more apt to spot clean
when minor accidents and spills happen.
Not only can we enjoy a cleaner floor throughout the week, but it
doesn't take so much Saturday scrubbing to get it back up to speed. It got me thinking that it's similar with us
and repentance. It gave more meaning to
being prepared to attending church and partaking of the sacrament each week,
and the importance of "spot cleaning" throughout the week when we
make mistakes.
Many Saturday mornings we work together with the kids to get
our apartment cleaned and ready for Sunday.
Yesterday we didn't get to cleaning until after the kids were in
bed. As Bry & I got things all
cleaned up and ready for Sunday, I felt like we were preparing for a special
visitor to come. And in essence we were. We were preparing our hearts and homes for
the Lord's spirit to be in our home on the Sabbath. It made me think again about this idea of
preparing for the Sabbath and the difference between purification
(justification) and sanctification. Here
is a quote from a modern day Apostle of the Lord...
None of us, of course, is perfectly obedient, and thus we
rely on our baptismal covenant to bring a remission of sins after baptism just
as it has done for our lives before baptism. We rely on repentance to
reinvigorate that covenant, to bring the Holy Spirit and, with it, atoning
grace. The process of cleansing and sanctifying through the baptisms of water
and of the Holy Ghost can be continued weekly as we worthily partake of the
sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. The tokens of the Atonement, the bread and
water, become symbolic cleansing agents and the sign of our renewed covenant,
similar to the symbolism of the water in which we were immersed at baptism. It
is as if we were being baptized afresh and the door once again opened for the
Holy Spirit to enter, “that [we] may always have his Spirit to be with [us]”
(D&C 20:77).---"JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION" BY ELDER D.
TODD CHRISTOFFERSON
Just like cleaning our floors or getting our house ready and
cleaned for Sunday, we can do our best to clean up our lives, rid ourselves of
things that our bogging us down. Then it
is the spirit that comes into our hearts and sanctifies them. The more priority I place on "spot
cleaning", "scrubbing" and preparing physically and spiritually
for the Sabbath, the better prepared I am to receive the Lord's spirit in my
home and my heart.
One last thought. In
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints there is a General Conference
two weekends a year where there is a high concentration (8+ hours) of inspiring
talks and music. There are also stake
and ward conferences a few times a year with local leaders where special
instruction is given. Each Sunday there
are 3 hours of church services (Sacrament Meeting, Sunday School, Relief
Society/Priesthood). Aside from that we
are advised to study the scriptures and to pray on a daily basis. As I've pondered about this organization,
I've realized that it applies to many things and is a good pattern to
follow. The thought that came to me is
If Bry & I want to have a strong family we need to have--
SMALLER daily (family dinner/prayer/scripture study)
BIGGER weekly (Family Home Evening, family outings, holidays & traditions)
and LARGE annual family interactions (vacations)---Large meaning lots of concentrated family time where our focus is on being together.
SMALLER daily (family dinner/prayer/scripture study)
BIGGER weekly (Family Home Evening, family outings, holidays & traditions)
and LARGE annual family interactions (vacations)---Large meaning lots of concentrated family time where our focus is on being together.
Anyway, just some thoughts and connections I've been making
lately...and I wanted to record and share them in case they are helpful to
anyone else. Any thoughts?
29 March 2018
I can't help but add a little addendum here. If I'm being honest I no longer get my kitchen floors sparkly clean every week, just isn't a priority these days, but I know that the principle still applies. Our little efforts to stay with Christ, come back to Christ, be cleaned by Christ, all make a BIG difference!
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