Let God Clean Your Pot

 

 

Ezekiel 24:11-13 - Then set the empty pot on the coals till it becomes hot and its copper glows so its impurities may be melted and its deposit burned away.  It has frustrated all efforts; its heavy deposit has not been removed, not even by fire.  " 'Now your impurity is lewdness. Because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed from your impurity, you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided.

 

Ezekiel was given a parable for the King. He was to act out the parable as an object lesson. The best cuts of mutton were placed in a pot of boiling water.  They were cooked to tender then poured out on the rocks piece by piece. Then the bones were to be burned and the empty pot put back over the hottest coals to clean it….but the rust and impurities would not burn away.

 

It was a vivid picture of the lives of the people the king was in charge of.  God had given them the best of everything…and they had wasted it….used it for evil. God had tried to burn all the evil out from among them….but they were a stubborn…rebellious people….and refused to be changed.

 

It is a reminder to me that when times are tough…God is trying to reveal sin in our lives.  And he isn’t just talking about the obvious sins we already know we should not be involved in.  He is also talking about the hidden sins…the ones we don’t think are a problem. The more righteous we think we have become…the harder it is for God to show us the sin that might be affecting our relationship with him.

 

The people of Israel thought they were protected in the city God had placed them.  But the city became the pot that God used to try and burn the sin from their lives. We are not protected anywhere but wrapped up in God’s arms. And that requires a daily relationship with him that is two way.  It requires the serious study of the Bible he left us…and at least one talk with him in prayer every day.

 

I think of all the dirt that was on the cleaning pad of my Swiffer mop as I clean sometimes.  My bathroom floor was filthy….hairspray has a way of collecting on the vinyl floor and catching everything. I could see the dirt before I mopped.  But the kitchen floor looked clean…I saw no obvious dirt.  But the brand new pad I attached pulled up quite a bit of dark grit that my eyes could not see against the vinyl.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder to keep searching for hidden sins in my life….even though I think I have removed all the ones that keep me from having the deepest relationship I can with you.  Forgive me for letting Bible study become routine…and prayer become short and surface.  Instill in me this morning a new passion to clean the hidden sin from my life so you can use me more effectively to love others. Amen.