In a rush this morning I left my oatmeal bowl on the table. I enjoyed most of it, but there were some little oats still on the sides & bottom of the bowl. I hurried to get the kids ready to go to Pop & Gran’s house & then took on the job of cleaning the apartment. By the time I was back in the kitchen & ready to tackle a literal MOUND of dishes, I looked over & there was my oatmeal bowl – crusty. Hmm…now I had a choice: scrub as hard as possible & still fight the chance that some oats will hang on for dear life….or…soak the bowl & come back. Since time is precious these days with 2 little ones, I chose the latter.

I did some other housework & when I returned to the “MOUND” I really didn’t remember my oatmeal bowl…it was somewhere in the bottom soaking. By the time I got to the bottom, I was miffed with the amount of dishes I was doing. Why did I let them pile up so high? Anyhow…I got to my little oatmeal bowl & as I swiped the sponge into it…it was immediately clean. Voila! But the bigger voila! was what God impressed upon me right then.

SOAK.

I have junk. Crusty junk in my life I’ve just let sit for too long. I know it’s there…getting crustier by the day, hanging on for dear life, and stubbornly refusing to come free. When I’ve “gone to God” about it I’ve found myself feeling like, where do I begin? I begin to ask for forgiveness and then I think “oh yeah…there was that sin too...ugh”. To be honest I’ve given up…it was simply too defeating. It made me feel so bad about myself. I didn’t want to confront the junk. What I really didn’t want to do was scrub the oatmeal bowl that had been sitting for too long.

"SOAK."

"Huh?"

"SOAK in Me."

"Soak in My goodness. Soak in My love. Soak in My mercy. Soak in the remembrance of the way I've forgiven you in the past. Soak in how I've set you free. Soak in My majesty. Soak in My might. Soak in My ability to be bigger & stronger than your sin. Soak in My Living Water."

Ohhhhh.

It was so incredible to be reminded that I don’t only come to Him and ask for forgiveness. I need to come before Him, worship Him, and let my crusty sins soak away in praising Him for how GOOD He is. The longer I soak, the easier it is to become truly clean. When the bowl is clean am I am reminded of how awesome He is, then I can begin to understand that He really is the Living Water that washes me clean.

Tomorrow morning as I fill my oatmeal bowl I can say out loud, “Your mercies are new EVERY morning! Great is Your faithfulness!” …and I’ll take care of the oats before they get all crusted to the side.