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Over the last month I have spent an unusually large amount of time at one desk while ignoring the other. It just so happens that I have a problem with getting a cup of coffee in the morning and not completely finishing it. On a normal day or normal week this is not too big a deal. Before going and getting my new coffee I wash out the old one and I am good to go.

Lately things have not been normal as I mentioned before and my coffee cup had to sit with a little coffee in it for quite a while. Let’s just say that by the time I took a good look at it, it resembled black sludge. This was not a tasty look to say the least. For some reason I had a lazy streak and instead of immediately taking care of the problem I just poured some water in there hoping to loosen the sludge up to make cleaning easier.

Actually this was a good idea but there was one flaw. I left my desk and forgot about the problem until later in the week. Thus causing more sludge to form and quite a problem to exist. After that I would come in every day and just look at it and leave it alone. Just a side note here is that I was using another cup the whole time, which made it easier to ignore the one that needed some major work.

For some reason I was not motivated to take care of that ugly black goop in my life and I have a feeling we all suffer from the same problem from time to time in our spiritual life as well.

We at times in our life will look ourselves square in the eye take an honest look at our life. There on the countertop of our life we find some sludge we know we need to get rid of. Yet we refuse to do anything about it.

Be honest now some of you can not imagine me letting some nasty coffee cup sit on my desk. Guess what? I think God thinks the same thing or worse about us letting sludge hang around in our life.

We need to take care of it, simply glossing over it will not make it go away, that will only make it worse. Simply looking the other way or rationalizing it, (one of our favorite things to do) will not make it go away. Just as the cup was not going to clean itself, our lives are not going to clean themselves simply by acknowledging it. Knowing there is a problem is the first step and the most obvious; doing something about it is the hard part.

Some work needs to be done. If you expect a cup to be clean you got to take it to the water, get some soap and go to work. Same with your life if you want it to be clean you have to take it to the source and get to work.

• Cleaning in your life starts with agreeing with God about your sludge (sin) and repenting from it.
• After you have repented then you need to turn that area of your life over to the Lord for his Holy Spirit to give you the power to put it in your past.
• One cleansing from the Lord gives you forgiveness, depending upon the Spirit to give you power to overcome is important but you also need to keep going to the source. If it is serious sludge then Satan loves to keep bringing that back up to you. Don’t listen to him keep going back to God for power, strength and peace.
• Oh yes, clean it all up. Don’t leave anything hanging around. You know as well as I do that if you leave even a little junk in the cup bad stuff grows on it. Same with your life if you leave a little of the old bad business hanging around then I guarantee you it will grow into some very bad business.

Got an old cup of sludge hanging around your life?….let me assure you it is going nowhere. Stop letting it grow, take it to the source and let God get to work.

I assure you there is nothing like drinking from a freshly cleaned cup of life!

Scripture: Hebrews 9:12-14, “He did not enter by means of blood of goats and calbes; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

Prayer: Dear Father, help us to take a good look inside and where there are things that do not please you to give them to you completely. Seeking your forgiveness and loving power to overcome sin as only you can give. We thank you for your love, for your sacrifice on the cross and we ask all these things in the Name of Christ, Amen.