Good morning,

Our devotion for today comes from 1 Peter 2:8 "A stone that causes men to stumble, and a rock that trips them up.  They stumble by disobeying the message; they were destined for this." 

Wherever you are today (Selah), think on this; to understand how we can have a clean heart, let's first think about what happens when your hands are dirty.  You wash them.  In fact, you undoubtedly wash them multiple times each day, even if you cannot see any dirt on them.  You wash them either because they feel dirty or because you can just sense that they are not clean.

Once we have received Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we are clean in His eyes, but that does not mean we have once and for all attained sinless perfection.  As we venture forth into the world, we will naturally get a little "dirt" on us during any particular day, we can think wrong thoughts, make hurtful comments, or manifest inapproriate attitudes.  We remain clean only as long as we are obedient, which means that we can get dirty all too easily.  For this reason, the Lord told Peter, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean." (John 10:13). 

The Scriptures speak of cleansing "by the washing of water with the word" (Ephesians 5:26).  Spiritually, the way our hearts become clean is by using the Lord's "bar of soap" the Bible.  A heart must be clean in order for the Holy Spirit to work in it.  God's living Word has been given to mankind as an instruction book and a means to keep us clean by revealing our wrong thinking or behavior.  As Scripture speaks to our heart, we confess and repent, which is how the cleansing takes place. ( 1 John 1:9)  Have you washed yet today?

Have a blessed clean day!

Your brother in Christ,

J. H. Flakes, III