Dirt

I'm working more with my hands these days.  I'm not a stranger to it, but it HAS been awhile.  One of the projects that I've been doing during my first couple of weeks here is painting my father-in-law's store.  I didn't calculate the square footage or anything, but there's a lot to do.  If it were just painting that would be one thing, but there's always more involved than when you originally sign up for something, right?


There's wallpaper to take down, some holes to fill (drywall AND concrete) and since it's a retail operation, I have to make sure that I leave as much real estate un-bothered as possible while I paint.  I also have to move all of the displays around.


The other thing that I have to do is wash the walls.  The best guess that I get from anyone around the place is that it's been nearly 2 decades since it's been painted.  That's a long time for dirt to accumulate.  It's  gotten me thinking.


Despite all of the people that has been in and out of this store over the nearly 40 years that the business has been operating, and even though the ceiling fans run everyday and either the air conditioning or the heater runs pretty much every day, dirt seems to find places to land.  Everywhere.  Dirt finds a way to pile up.  In other words, dust settles even though life remains in seeming constant activity.


No matter how busy we get, or fast we move, there's dirt lurking.  Well, maybe not lurking.  It's not like the dirt is waiting to pounce or anything...as a matter of fact, it's fine just sitting around piling up--never wanting to be discovered.  But dirt IS there.  Sometimes it's so small that it's almost un-noticable.


But here's a couple issues with this: (1) We can get used to the dirt and don't really notice it anymore; (2) Unless it's cleaned on a regular basis, dirt can slow progress, even cause a shutdown if it gets into sensitive areas.


Like the 20+years of dirt on the walls of the store that I'm painting, things can pile up in our lives.  Things like attitudes, prejudices, anger and bitterness.  Sometimes we've just put up with it for so long that we don't even notice it's affect on our lives anymore.  It's not really dangerous, per se, but it does have an affect.  It could get worse though.

This is a picture of a NASA clean room.  This room provides a dust-free work zone.  Why would they need this?  Because if dirt got into the components of this kind of stuff, it's catastrophic.

If the dirt in our lives isn't constantly worked on, it can become catastrophic to our relationships.

If you've got something that has been 'tucked away' for awhile, maybe you should take a serious look at it.  

Maybe it's time to wash the walls in your heart.

One of the quickest ways to do an inventory of this size is to forgive.  I said it...forgive.  Forgive the person who hurt you years ago.  Forgive the parent who didn't live up to your expectations.  Forgive the boss that didn't promote you like you deserved.  Forgive the one who betrayed you and let you down.

It's pretty powerful, and it doesn't mean that you'll become best friends, but it will go a long way toward cleaning out some things that maybe you've left over in the corner of your heart and mind.

Jesus said this:

  ¹⁴ “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly
Father will forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you refuse to forgive others,
your Father will not forgive your sins."  Matt 6:14-15

So, get busy.  Take a few minutes to look over the 'walls' of your life and inspect to see if there's dirt there.  If there is, chances are that there's someone you need to forgive today.