Unending Housework

Something I try and do is be disciplined in staying clean and organized. Though organized doesn’t quite describe anything in my life, clean has begun to… Staying clean and constantly being conscious of picking up after myself or making my bed in the morning has become a discipline I’ve slowly learned. I know anyone who knows me can vouch and say that I have not always been a person who is self-motivated in that area- instead I used to be mom-motived. Living on my own, though, I have begun to learn that discipline. I can’t rely on my mom to do things for me that I’m too lazy to do and I can’t rely on my dad to nag me long enough to scour and straighten the bathroom to make me do it.

An observation I’ve made lately is that the work is never finished! Each morning I wake up and make my bed. I then straighten up my room and go to school. As I come home from classes and change into umpteen different outfits, for whatever the day brings, the clothes get strung and the dirt gets trudged. By the end of the day I find myself cleaning again and I find that it takes more time than the morning. Not to mention the kitchen constantly needs swept and the laundry constantly has to be washed and re-washed, as with the dishes.

Housework is never quite finished.

Y’all I’m a learner by application. Thinking about cleaning and how it is a discipline somehow, in my brain, relates to evangelism and how it is also a discipline.

I became a follower of Jesus Christ at a young age, and though I believe my salvation was real then- I was spoon fed a lot. My parents were the ones urging me to go to church. They were the ones who prayed with me in bed at night. Though the pressing feeling, from my parents, of seeking Christ might not have been as pressing as vacuuming the family living room floor, I was shown how to, and urged to, seek the Lord. Just as I mentioned in the first paragraph, at some point I had to slowly create my own walk into my own self-discipline. Choosing to wake up and preach the gospel to myself or anyone else is not as easy as making my bed. It’s not a natural habit to do.

One of my sweet friends Hannah Dancy said last night, at a girl’s bible study, something in the effect of… I know my own story of salvation and transformation so naturally I don’t think I need to tell myself every day the change that Jesus did in me. She pointed out to us Psalm 51 verses 12-17, it reads:

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,

O God of my salvation,

And my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;

You will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God,

You will not despise.”

Hannah said a few things that I don’t think I can forget. She told us how she wants to be broken for the gospel’s cause. She wants to hear Jesus’ name and it move her to do something. My heart has been going through the same thing and I haven’t quite known how to work through that conviction. But with this Psalm I can see that the word is telling me my joy comes from salvation (vs 12). With my own salvation I will be moved to share with sinners the story of God’s saving grace so they will turn to Him (vs 13). When I share I am able to rehear the gospel and, sometimes, my own story of God’s great work in my heart. With that comes brokenness and constant, consistent reminders of the gospel and what it means for all who believe in it. My brokenness leads to repentance (vs 17) which in return circles back around to the joy of salvation that moves me share.   

Being broken doesn’t always mean not being able to pick yourself back up again. I feel like in this cause, in the meaning Hannah was talking about, it’s being broken to the point of action. It’s making a conscious effort for the joy of salvation to transform our lives to the point of brokenness for those around us; so much so that we can’t help but pour out the truth of Christ on them.

I don’t think sharing and evangelism is something that can come naturally to someone. There are fears and there is laziness. In keeping with my “cleaning discipline” theme, evangelism is not something that is a one-time deal. It’s like the dirty dishes there is always more work to be done and more work that will appear. It takes time and the more you make it a habit the more you see the need for the work to be done. Working for the Lord’s cause is a discipline. It must be learned in the same way one learns to wake up and brush their teeth or wake up and read The Word. It takes practice, time and effort.  

Kingdom work is never quite finished.  

-LauraLBrown