Cleanliness Is Related To Godliness
Most people do not delight or take pleasure in doing dirty work. On the job, there are tasks which are necessary and someone has to do them. Most people do not like doing various tasks, and I think primarily, that they are not told the importance of this job to the company, nor are they told that failure to do this job could cause harm to the company that employs them.
Cleaning toilets and bath rooms is a dirty job of cleaning up after others. We all know the importance of a restroom in a public facility. We also know that if it is not cleaned, the health department could fine them, and usually the the greater harm to the company is because people will not want to return to that business. Every business is dependent upon repeat business for survival.
There are also advantages to keeping oneself clean and neat. Our general health depends upon how well we maintain our bodies. Besides, who wants to be around someone who stinks? A person who cleans them self has a general sense of self-esteem, and such sense can be contagious. Many people want to be around those who have such self-esteem, because somehow, they also receive certain blessings just by being in their company. Sure, there are dirty people who can be very nice in character, but given the choice, I am sure many will choose the clean friend over the dirty friend.
But the most important thing that needs to be clean in our lives is our spiritual condition. Sin is depicted in the scriptures as something unclean. It is described as something we would call filthy. Unfortunately, we cannot cleanse this sin from our lives by ourselves. Once we have sinned, we are separated from a relationship with God (Isaiah 59:2), and we cannot come back to God until we have ourselves cleansed. How do we do this? We have to go to the cleansing source. Jesus Christ died upon the cross so that our sins may be washed away in baptism (Acts 22:16). Only then will be cleansed enough to be welcomed into the family of God. We must do our part by hearing and obeying the voice of the Lord. That means we learn His commandments and do them. We must make the effort to keep ourselves clean after God has cleansed us by the blood of Christ in a symbolic sense. We must change our former ways and stop the sin happening in our lives. This change comes about because of a change of heart. No longer do we live for ourselves, but we live for a much higher cause. That cause is godliness. Godliness is that quality of keeping spiritual thoughts in our minds constantly, recognizing that doing God's will is the ultimate compliment paid to God, and doing God's will brings Him glory and honor. Why don't you do your part to bring honor and glory to God.
Cleanse yourself, ask God to cleanse you, and live a faithful clean life free from sin. How do we do this?
Leviticus 16:30 "For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD". Before Christ came, the High Priest would enter the most holy place once a year. This was the Day Of Atonement. We should also realize that once our sins are cleansed from us, we should strive not to sin again in the same way.
Psalm 51:2 "Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Only God can forgive sin. And we will see that for our sins to be cleansed, we must do it God's way."
Psalm 119:9 "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word." Taking heed according to God's word means we study, learn, and apply the teachings therein unto our lives.
In some prophetic language, Jeremiah wrote about a time when people's sins will be washed away. Jeremiah 33:8 "And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me."
Remember that our iniquities separate us from God, and God will do this on a condition that these people seek to be pleasing to God in all things.
2Corinthians 7:1 "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." God has made these promises to us, but it is up to us to obey the Lord's commands. How do we cleanse ourselves? 1John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
By Carey Scott

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