A Good Cleaning

“…wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” Psalm 51:7

The other day I had a chance to talk to my nephew Nathan. It was such fun. He’s a little squirt, just barely three and full of smiles and boundless energy.

It’s been a while since my kids were that small. Sometimes I miss those days and all the cuteness and littleness and sweetness that came with them.

But there are definitely things I do not miss. I don’t miss diapers. I don’t miss toilet training. And – you’re going to think I’m a horrible mom – I don’t miss bath time.

I know, I know. Bath time with cute little kids is supposed to be enjoyable, full of bubbles and giggles and bonding ... but I didn’t like it. Kneeling on the floor is uncomfortable. The bathroom gets hot. And at the end of the day I wanted to plunk the kids into bed with a hasty kiss and squeeze in some grown-up quiet time.

Of course, it was always good to see the kids get clean. The longer they sat, the more the day drained off of them into the water, turning it a suspicious brown beneath the bubbles. They would emerge from the fluff of their towels all shiny and fresh and smelling wonderfully of Johnson & Johnson.

But inevitably within two minutes of getting dressed my newly-washed children would thunder by me with sweat-streaked hair and grime-coated fingers. I would give a big, exasperated mom sigh and think to myself, what’s the point? You wash them and then they’re dirty again. And then you wash them and they get dirty again. It’s a cycle that tries the patience of even the most saintly mother.

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January is a good time for a bath. After the off-kiltering whirlwind of December, the first month of the year provides opportunity to get clean – to shake off the bad habits and failures of the previous year and start fresh.

Are you a New Year’s resolution-maker? I am. I resolve to eat right, to get the kids to school on time, to keep the kitchen tidy, to live life with gusto. I get myself cleaned up and prepare to be the me I want to be.

Guess what. It’s not even two weeks into January, and I’ve already broken all my resolutions.

It happens every year. I get all geared up to make a change, to clean up my act, and then I fail. It’s too easy to slip back into old routines and become, despite my best efforts, the old, grimy me.

Sometimes I’m tempted to think, what’s the point of washing? I can’t change myself. And if I can’t keep one simple new year’s resolution, I certainly can’t get rid of the deeper stains, the hidden sinfulness that only God and I can see. Be holy as I am holy, Jesus says, but I can’t. I can’t do it. I will fail and fail and fail.

What does our Father do with things that are dirty? He cleans them. When the world was muddied with sin, He cleansed it with the waters of the Flood. It became dirty again, and again He washed it – this time with the blood of His Son.

With the patience of the most perfect parent, He washes me day after day, scrubbing away at all the most disgusting spots until I’m clean in His eyes. I break my resolutions and remain who I do not wish to be, but Jesus became who I needed Him to be and made His way resolutely to the cross that I might be most undeservedly clean.

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The kids certainly didn’t share my dislike for bath time, back when they were little. They played in the bubbles with delight, reveling in the beauty of home-made waterfalls and conducting watery conversations between floating yellow ducks and periscoping toes. To them the process of being made clean was a time of simple joy, a time to be anticipated and savored and remembered.

I can’t wash myself. But I can sit and revel in the forgiveness that floats all around me. I can splash with glee in the baptismal waters with which my Father makes me His child, loved and lovingly cleansed. I can shout with joy when He announces, “It’s bath time!” – time to hear His Word, to commune at His table, to explore His truths with my Christian brothers and sisters.  Once again shiny and clean, I can smile up at the loving face of my Father with the delightful certainty of being His own dear little one.

How are you doing with your resolutions? Are you the you you want to be? Grab your rubber ducky – it’s bath time.