We received a brochure in the mail this past weekend. The catch-phrase on the front said, “Life’s too short to clean your own home.” I had to read it twice. It sounded crazy. Now it has me thinking, and I am coming up with more questions than answers.
If life is too short to clean your own home, then who do you hire to do it? Someone with a long enough life to clean both their own home and yours? Jesus had a short earthly life, yet he spent 30 out of 33 years as a carpenter’s son. Was his life not too short to spend most of it helping Joseph build furniture or Mary clean house. This was the guy who washed his disciples feet. Do you think he never washed a dish? I wonder, are we told so little about the first 30 years of Jesus’ life because . . . there just isn’t much to tell? Someday I will get the chance to ask Him what He did all those years. I wont be surprised if he says he mostly just worked in a wood shop and helped out around the house.
Life is too short to waste a single moment doing something other than what God wants. The tricky part for me is figuring out what that is. Sometimes, it might be going on a mission trip. And sometimes, it might just be helping clean the house . . . with a good attitude. Whether it is working, playing, helping others, or cleaning house, I want to strive to always be about the Father’s business. A wasted life may be determined not so much by what I do, but by how I do it, and who I do it for.
So Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years old. – Luke 3:23a
Now Jesus left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue. Many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did he get these ideas? And what is this wisdom that has been given to him? What are these miracles that are done through his hands? Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” And so they took offense at him.
– Mark 6:1-3 NET
3 Responses to “Who Does the Cleaning?”
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Makes me want to reread the old classic written by Brother Lawrence, The Practice of The Present of God. He washed lots of dishes and claimed he felt it was ever as much essential as receiving holy communion… or something akin to that anyway…
“The Practice of the “Presence” of God” is the title, I think, actually. 🙂
Yes, you said something to me about that book a while back. I looked it up and downloaded the online version. It’s very good. Thanks for the recommendation.