My life is like a kitchen floor

A few of my most faithful readers might recognize this post. I wrote it originally for Patheos almost a year ago, but it was a message I needed to remind myself of today. 

When we first moved into our home, we were delighted by the bright and spacious kitchen. It had 6 recessed lights in the ceiling, plus one over the sink. After a few months, one of the lights burned out. I put “buy replacement bulbs” on my list of things to do. Perhaps a month later, a second light burned out. I moved my shopping trip up the priority list slightly, but there was really no rush. It was still easy to see, I told myself.


By six months into our home, we had three burned out bulbs in the kitchen. It was alright, though. We could see fine. I did not realize how dark it had become in the kitchen until one day, I bought and installed the replacement bulbs. I was amazed at the difference! I wanted to call someone to share the good news!

Then I wondered if the scenario with the kitchen lights ever played out in my life. Was I living without the full light of the gospel? I thought about my personal prayer bulb. “We still have family prayer every day and couple prayer. That’s plenty of praying,” I heard myself rationalize. My prayer bulb was on, but it seemed dim. Right there, and right then, I recommitted to keep my spiritual light bulbs ON!

Now that the kitchen is bright again, I can really see the dirt on the floor. I’m sweeping and getting out the steam mop! And isn’t that again like the gospel? In the light of Christ, we see our own dirty spots, and thanks to Him, we can find the motivation to change and to become clean again.

Which makes me think that we’re more like kitchen floors than we think. One good washing isn’t going to keep us clean for the rest of our lives. We need daily sweeping to get the surface dirt off and regular mopping, maybe even daily mopping.

Are you a daily mopper or a weekly mopper? Or a procrastinating mopper? Do you ever find gospel applications in the work you (need to) do?