Where did they come from? Did someone get up in the night? I wondered.
Whew! With the kitchen finally clean—I don't like waking up to a dirty kitchen—I flopped into bed, tired from a busy day of working outside.
Waking up the next morning to the aroma of coffee wafting into my room, I got up, walked to the kitchen, headed to the coffee pot, and glanced at the kitchen counter. Imagine my surprise when a stream of sunshine, beaming across my kitchen counter, revealed several smudges and finger prints on the counter.
Grumbling under my breath as I poured coffee into my favorite mug, I wondered how many times I thought I had cleaned up the messes of my life, only to discover I didn't do such a good job. I left smudges and fingerprints on my heart that only the Holy Spirit's light could illuminate.
The psalmist asked God to create a clean heart in him. We, too, may act as if everything is okay on the outside, but God looks on the heart. When He nudges me about something—forgiving someone, revealing the truth, or apologizing to a spouse, roommate, or child—I need to do as He says, not as I think. When I don't, the smudges remain.
Such as the time when I said something harsh to my husband and the Lord convicted me. I apologized to the Lord during my prayer time but did not apologize to my husband. One day, the Lord nudged me to forgive my husband. By obeying, I erased the smudge on my heart.
Every time I see sunlight shining on my counters, I remember the fingerprint lesson and the importance of keeping my heart clean.
When God shines His light on the fingerprints or smudges in your life, ask Him to do what the psalmist did: Create in me a clean heart, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within me.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
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Barbara Todd lives in Red Rock, Texas, with her husband of forty-six years. They have three children and three grandchildren. She has been writing Life Lessons for many years and is compiling selections for a Legacy book for her grandchildren. She also self-published Simple Praise: Who God Is to Us – a book using the alphabet as a way to learn how to praise using the attributes of God (for adults).