Mornings With Jesus 2016: 14-Day Reading PlanSample

“Mom, it’s so funny . . . you keep doing laundry but the pile never goes down,” my son Jack said as he walked by the laundry in our hallway. He was grinning. I was not. Because it is never funny when you do something endlessly and see little or no improvement. Yesterday I walked by the laundry to see a three-foot pile of dirty towels. I yelled out, “Who just brought all those dirty towels?”

Jack said, “Me. I found them under my bed.”

It appears that the children are conspiring against me. They have decided, “No matter what, let’s never let the laundry basket get all the way empty.” They are winning. I am losing. Over these long years, they have watched me crack under the never-ending mounds of laundry. I say things like, “Didn’t I just wash this?” and “Wasn’t this clean yesterday?”

Sometimes I feel like I experience the same thing in my journey of faith. I come up against the same dirty laundry in my life over and over again: anxiety, selfishness, pride, coveting . . . the list goes on. I call out things like, “Didn’t I just deal with this?” and “Am I ever going to be done with these issues?” The thing that I need to remember is that my life isn’t like a never-ending laundry basket of problems. I have a promise from Jesus that He has cleansed me from all unrighteousness because of His holiness. Because of His gift of pardon and grace. And daily, He is working out His salvation in me. Changing me. Redeeming me. And the most beautiful thing of all? He has promised to wash me whiter than snow. —Susanna Foth Aughtmon

FAITH STEP: As you put in your next load of laundry, use it as a physical reminder that Jesus has cleansed you from all unrighteousness and that He is working out His salvation in you daily.