09/07/2023
"IS THIS YOUR KIND OF CLEAN?"
For the most part, everyone in our house has standard chores. I cook the meals and do the laundry. My husband fills the dishwasher and rolls the dumpsters to the curb on trash day. My son gathers trash the night before trash day and fills the dog's water and food bowls. My daughter gets the mail and empties the dishwasher. We all put away our own laundry and we share the vacuuming.
Every now and then a chore gets switched based on our schedules. Yesterday my daughter was at volleyball practice so I asked my son to empty the dishwasher. Because this isn't his usual task (and because he's an almost-10-year-old boy who likes to stretch things out), he asked a LOT of questions about the process! It was obvious that most of the questions were intended to get him out of the chore; he wanted to frustrate me enough so that I'd take over the project and he could go back to screen time.
But one question was earnest. My son pulled a cutting board from the bottom rack - a small white plastic cutting board. It's by far the most used cutting board in my possession. I use it at least once a day, and sometimes several times a day. Because it gets used so often, it looks pretty beat up and has some permanent staining. So the almost-10-year old holds the cutting board up and asks, "Mom, is this YOUR kind of clean?"
He was asking if the cutting board was up to my standards of cleanliness. He was asking if it was clean enough to put away. He'd heard me say the phrase before when he'd been tasked with cleaning his room. Sometimes he'll tell me his room is clean but before I check I'll ask him, "Is it MY kind of clean?" Most of the time he shakes his head and returns to his room for a few more minutes before asking me again to check his work. So I knew what he was asking when he wanted to know if that cutting board was "MY kind of clean." My response: "Yeah, buddy. That's my kind of clean."
It was a simple enough question but it's been echoing in my mind for the last few days. And God has been talking to me about how I am HIS kind of clean. I think about that cutting board and all the years of use it's seen. I've probably cut thousands of vegetables on that thing over a decade or more. It's seen the blade of a knife run over it again and again and again. It's bound to have some staining. Expected even. And when I run it through the dishwasher with the extra hot cycle and sani-rinse AND heated dry, then of course I know it's clean.
So why do I so often deem myself NOT clean in God's perspective? Why do I second-guess God's assessment of me? Why do I hold myself to unattainable standards? Just like that cutting board I've seen the blades of cutting words, hurt feelings, false accusation, trauma, and a number of other circumstances that life has thrown at me. Aren't I bound to have some scars and stains? Isn't that even to be expected? But when I choose to let God clean me up and put me through His sani-rinse, high-temp, heated dry cycle, then He calls me HIS kind of clean.
When I ask my Father if I'm His kind of clean, He gently responds, "Yeah, kiddo. You're MY kind of clean."
Even though you were once distant from Him, living in the dark shadows of evil thoughts and actions, He cleaned you up and reconnected you back to Himself... He paid the price for you with His own body and death on the cross... And now there is NOTHING between you and God. He sees you as holy, flawless, and restored. He sees you as HIS KIND OF CLEAN. (Colossians 1:21-22, paraphrased)
