The Cost of Clean - Martin Wiles

Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself. 1 Corinthians 6:19 NLT

Clean had a cost … but I paid for it.

In my first three years of college, my wife, young daughter, and I lived in the oldest apartments on campus. Built in the 1950s, the building was cement block with no central heat or air.

For heat, the apartment had two small space heaters with no guard grills. With a small toddler just learning to walk, having an open flame she could touch wasn’t sufficient. Someone suggested a kerosene heater, so I bought one. Grills surrounded the hot surface, but no open flame presented itself.

The only problem? We needed K-1 kerosene, and our small town had no gas station that sold it. Getting some required driving ten miles one way. But I paid the cost in gas and at a higher cost for this type of kerosene. We wanted a clean smell in the house, a clean heater, and a safe experience for our daughter.

Every month—and sometimes in between—I’m reminded that clean has a cost. When my wife visits local retail stores and purchases the things we need to keep our bodies clean. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, toothpaste, mouth wash. Things that don’t come cheap, but that are necessary—just as the K-1 kerosene was.

Paul speaks of keeping our body clean because it houses God’s Spirit. Given to us when we trust Christ as our Savior, the Spirit takes up permanent residence. Temples represent the presence of God and should remain holy … clean.

Most churches pay for cleaning services. No one wants to worship in a dirty church. Paul’s idea runs a little deeper. My appearance or smell—although important—isn’t what he has in mind. Keeping my body temple clean relates to my actions, thoughts, and attitudes. I can be clean on the outside … but dirty on the inside. Thinking things that don’t honor God. Having a stinking attitude. Getting involved in actions that don’t represent well who I am in Christ.

Keeping our temples clean is only possible with the help of God’s Spirit. When we depend on Him to guide our lives, we’ll think about good and honorable things, which will produce actions that point others to Christ and to what He can do in their lives.

Pay the cost of clean by thinking about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, excellent, and admirable.

Prayer: Father, give us the desire to pay the cost to keep our body temples clean for You.

Tweetable: How important is clean to you? 

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Throwback Tuesday - Getting Dirty for God - Martin Wiles

Getting Dirty for God

Mom called it nice-nasty—a phrase she used to describe me even as a child. 

According to Mom, I despised getting dirty. When any substance got on my hands—be it dirt or anything sticky, I immediately wanted it washed off. I suppose that’s why I’ve always despised the beach. Clinging and sticky sand all over my body and in my hair is just not my cup of tea.

Mom diagnosed me correctly. While there are times I enjoy getting dirty—such as when I’m mowing the lawn, working in the flower bed, or tending to my garden, normally I enjoy being clean. Read more...

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Clean Hands, Clean Heart - Martin Wiles

Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight. Psalm 18:24 NKJV

My hands weren’t clean, but I imagined they were.

“Wash up for dinner” was a directive I rarely if ever heard while growing up. It wasn’t that my family was nasty. Far from it. Both of my parents were “clean freaks.” At least my mom. But for some reason, I wasn’t told to wash my hands before eating. Perhaps because they were never dirty in the first place. I had inherited my parents’ cleanliness gene. I didn’t like dirt or anything sticky on my hands. So I suppose my parents imagined my hands were clean all the time. No reason to tell me to wash them before eating. In their mind, I had already washed them for some other reason.

But my parents also believed a few germs would never hurt anyone. Germs would help build my immune system—which in fact was a correct philosophy on my parents’ part. If I wanted to play in the dirt or handle dirty things and then eat, that was perfectly acceptable. Or if I dropped food on the floor or on the ground and then put it in my mouth, that too was okay—within limits. My parents weren’t neglectful. Nor would they ever put me in a dangerous situation.

Overall, I was a clean child, so there was no need to overly worry about cleaning me up. The psalmist considered himself clean—even righteous. But he wasn’t self-righteous. God had taken care of his sin, declared him clean, and was now going to deliver him from his enemies’ tactics. The coming deliverance wasn’t based on anything the psalmist had done—or deserved. It was based solely on who God was.

My righteousness comes the same way as the psalmist’s did. I don’t brag about it because I didn’t do anything to deserve it. Nor is it based on anything I did or could do. Rather, my righteousness issues from what Christ did on Calvary’s cross and my request that the benefits be applied to my life. God declared me righteous because of what His sinless Son did.

God will deliver me in life and death because I’m righteous, but all the credit goes to Him. I can’t wash up; only He can clean me up.

If He hasn’t already, let God wash you and make you clean.  

Prayer: Father, thank You making us clean through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. 

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Flashback Friday - Martin Wiles

Feeling Dirty

Five days had passed, and I couldn’t wait to slither into a nice hot shower.

Only once in my life have I been more than two days without bathing. But presently my daughter and I were on a five-day backpacking trip, and the only water available was for drinking and cooking-not washing. While we wiped down each evening, these “piggy baths” didn’t completely remove the dirt and sweat we accumulated from trudging over mountains. We felt more than a little dirty by the time we were through. Read more...

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