Have you ever thought about how the washing machine works to get your clothes nice and clean? I literally love how God can take the simplest things in life and counsel us. Because He can use literally anything to teach, we must position ourselves to hear Him. What does this look like for you? For me, I tend to look at a situation or event and relate it back to the Word of God to give me deeper understanding of His Word which means… *wink, wink* I have to read and read often! “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” II Timothy 2:15 KJV. Don’t be ashamed to put that Word to use. He can use ANYTHING to teach. Remember also, this takes time to build. I didn’t always do this!
Okay, let’s get back into the wash cycle. I was putting my dirty clothes in the washer, right. As my clothes are washing, I start thinking about what we go through as children of God on this walk to get cleaned. First off, we don’t just wash our clothes once, and they are clean forever. Pssssh…I wish! Lol. Some people will wash every few days, once a week, once a month, etc. The point is, we have to wash them often. It is the same when going through this journey with God. Because we are not perfect, we get stained, we get worn down, we get overstretched, and so on. I know I’m not the only one who has put clothes in the washer and dryer to shrink them because they have been overstretched with wear. So, I know we all know the cycle of the wash, but for the sake of story time, I’m going to go through it. Bear with me. I also know some of you may have the fancier washing machines, but I’m going to stick with a basic wash cycle. Lol. No judgment if that’s you! You put the clothes in the machine, it fills up with water to a certain height, it washes, it drains, it fills with water again, it rinses, it drains, it spins, and then, it stops. It doesn’t seem like a lot of work, but when you look at it spiritually, it truly is work. It takes patience!
“What we consider dirty, and what God considers dirty are different.”
So, let’s look at it with spiritual eyes. Stay with me. We have to first admit that we need some washing! I’ll admit, this takes strength in itself because we think we are good most of the time, but reality is, we constantly have work to do. Now, don’t be deterred because I used the word constantly. It doesn’t always mean we are working on the same things (characteristics, behaviors, habits, thinking patterns, etc.), but believe me because we are human and not perfect, there is always something to work through and improve on. Okay, we’re in the washing machine, great! Now, the machine has to be filled with water, so that the clothes can be washed. By the way, if you haven’t considered it already, in this analogy we are the clothes. As the machine is providing the water, the clothes are absorbing the water. “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:22 KJV. The Lord tells us that His Word is living water which is strong enough to clean us. Why? Because when we have understanding, it causes us to change our thoughts and our behaviors. We then become acceptable to Him. “It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” John 6: 63 NKJV. Just like that, we have the power to be cleaned. When we read the bible and seek the Lord for understanding, we go through a process of purging what is filthy and abominable in the eyes of the Lord. Notice, I said in the eyes of the Lord. What we consider dirty, and what God considers dirty are different. We may think, oh a little “white” lie is innocent, but according to the Word of God, He hates lying and all liars. He calls the enemy the father of lies. I know I have spoken more lies than I can count from a kid until now. Don’t be side eyeing me now, we have all lied, and if you say you haven’t, well there you go; you JUST lied. Lol
Wash Cycle
Okay, now that the machine is full of water and the clothes have absorbed the water, it’s time for the actual washing to begin. You see, we fill ourselves with the water of the Word, but what do you do with all this information now? Oh friend, we have to use it. But how? Good question! We apply the Word to our daily lives. Notice as the washing machine is now washing the clothes, some agitation has to take place. I just googled the definition of agitate, and it means to stir or disturb (something, especially a liquid) briskly, to churn. Some machines have an agitator right in the middle that rubs against the clothes and causes the clothes to rub against each other as the machine turns. Other machines allow the clothes and water to be the agitator. Either way, the mix of water, soap, agitation and the turning of the machine causes the dirt and stains to be rubbed out or lifted from the clothes. What does this look like in real life? Let’s use idolatry as an example. There are many works of the flesh that can manifest from idolatry (i.e. fornication, jealousy, contentions, wrath, murders, and so on…see Galatians 5: 19-21 for a list of fleshly works to stay away from). Idolatry is a common one. I found myself in idolatry a number of times, and most times, I didn’t even know that’s what it was. However, as I read the Word and prayed for more understanding, the Lord blessed me with clarity on what idolatry looks like. I received this through someone speaking a message, through reading, through lived through examples. I idolized my ex-boyfriend, for example! Ooohhh, juicy stuff, right? I didn’t go to him and bow down to him or worship him, BUT I did put him before God. I did trust him more than I trusted God. I did follow his lead more than I followed God’s lead. I listened to him more than I listened to God. So, did I worship him? Hmmmm…not in a sense of calling him my god and praising his name, but like I said I put him before God in many ways. This led to fornication which God commands us not to partake in. This led to jealousy and wrath when he wasn’t faithful to me. This led to contentions or heated arguments all the time, keeping me sad, frustrated and angry. Yet, I kept going back. That speaks a lot to what I thought about myself back then. A story for another time. Now, I don’t put the blame all on him, it was me! I had some cleaning up to do, but I didn’t even know I was dirty by God’s standards. Idolatry caused me to operate in my flesh. Notice the other fleshly characteristics I picked up on because of it. Here comes the washing. The Lord opened my eyes about it in 2018 when He showed me, I wasn’t living right. It took me a year and 3 months after that to be freed from the relationship. I walked away because I finally believed God’s Word and chose to be cleansed even if that meant agitating my life. Get it? Agitating like the washing machine…okay, moving on lol. Our lives will be altered, and though it’s not always easy or comfortable, we have to make a choice who we will follow. Was I automatically delivered from idolatry when I left? No. I had to choose God first every day after that, and that took time! Remember it’s a process. So, I started to be cleansed of idolatry. I was able to apply the Word of God to my life by removing the idol. Now what? (Disclaimer: Sometimes, removing the idol can mean leaving the idol behind if there is no other solution. Sometimes, it can mean that you need to change your behavior because it’s you not them. People, places and things are not idols all by themselves. People make them idols. You don’t just randomly idolize anyone or anything. You idolize when you put it before God, no matter what IT is.)
Rinse Cycle
For the sake of time, let’s move to the rinse cycle. Once the washing cycle is finished, the machine is drained of the soiled water and filled back up with fresh water. Remember, we have to study the Word of God and keep His Words in our hearts. For me, once I got away from idolatry, now I can focus on the other works of the flesh that came up because of idolatry including anger, bitterness, strife, jealousy and so on. I got in that book and read about works that are not pleasing to the Lord. I got into prayer asking Him to relieve me because I didn’t want to live a life He didn’t approve of. Even in the rinse cycle, the clothes have to absorb more water to be rid of any dirt or residue left behind. Literally, God’s lessons are amazing! After the rinse cycle, the water drains again, and here comes the spin cycle. We’re almost finished guys!
Spin Cycle
During the spin cycle, the machine begins to spin very quickly to push out all of the excess water in them, so that when the cycle is completed the clothes are clean, damp and ready for the dryer. The scripture that comes to mind for the spin cycle is James 1: 22-24 KJV. “22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.” I believe this came to mind because I could relate squeezing the water out as applying the wisdom we are taught while we are being cleaned. Don’t be a forgetful hearer. Be a doer. Remember who you are as a child of God. Just because someone makes you upset doesn’t give you free range to cause strife and wrath. Don’t allow their behavior to make you bitter. Remember, you’re being washed of that old behavior. That’s the whole point. We are put in situations often where we have the opportunity to exercise God’s Word. He’s watching us and writing down how we perform. Does this mean walk around paranoid because God’s watching? No. He’s not a micromanager, but best believe He is watching. He doesn’t put more on us than we can handle, right? So, those pesky behaviors, words, and thoughts we have to deal with daily can be removed from us. We just have to stay vigilant because the enemy would love nothing more than for us to be ignorant to what is unacceptable to God. Don’t skip the wash cycle today. Don’t put it off until tomorrow, next week or next month. Start now and wash often! My prayer is that this has encouraged you to start going through that dirty clothes hamper. It has encouraged me to dig through my hamper to see what’s been hiding at the bottom! Take everything to God in prayer, fasting and reading. I pray for you as you pray for me! Praise God, in Jesus’ name. Let the Light of God so shine!
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