A Clog in my Cleaner

It had finally stopped working altogether, so I turned the vacuum cleaner upside down and started to work exploring the parts to figure out the problem. The only alternative was to start down the long road of calling for service, so I opted first for "self help." What I found dropped my jaw.

For the last couple of months, I noticed my vacuum cleaner just didn't have her same old spunk. She'd lost her appetite for the tiny things hiding in our decades old carpet, and I worked harder than ever to coax her to cooperate. I tried to perk her up, but I had no success. The day came when she even sounded different, like the life had been sucked out of her little vacuum heart. I was troubled. I flipped her over while Jake was busy with schoolwork, and I determined to unravel the hang up. I looked deeper into the heart of the beast, searching in places I hadn't examined before. Deeper than just the roller, into "parts" that would yield to my determination.

Finding a handy lever into the central hose, where the real wind flows, I popped her open, and my mouth dropped open. There, unscathed, stretching from hose to "next part" was my son's long, shining, hefty POCKET KNIFE! As if out of the swirl in the canister, memories flooded back of a moment a couple months ago when I was cleaning in Jacob's room. In a flash, and with a sudden but subtle sound, "something" seemed to be sucked up into the body of my eager cleaner. Jake and I stopped to debate and search, but with no immediate evidence on first examination, we guessed it was just a fairly hefty dust bunny .... not unheard of around here. :)

A couple of weeks before that, however, said pocket knife (vacation souvenir) had gone missing ... so the pieces all began to fall into place. I was amazed at my vacuum cleaner! We're talking about a lot of power to suck up a pocket knife! I admired her "chutzpa" to keep working, while choking inside .... and I felt bad about it. HOW CAN YOU MISS A POCKET KNIFE? :)

When I reflected on the clog incident and my moment of discovery, I was reminded about what the Lord has been teaching me through Matthew. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God," Matt. 5:8. That means those with a clean heart, without the clog of sin preventing the flow of the Spirit in our lives, will understand God. "Seeing" is understanding. I may long for understanding, but when I allow "objects" of sin that are foreign to God to become lodged in my heart or my mind or my body or through my eyes or ears, then I stop "seeing" God. It's hard to "understand" and know God when there's something stuck in my very heart. To have the full power of God's word and His Spirit flowing through me, I have to search for what clogs my life, get it out, and have a pure heart.

If you want to read 10 verses that talk about being "pure in heart," click here.

Lord, sin can be so subtle as I go about my day. I know I need Your help to have a pure heart, and I ask You to show me where I'm wicked. Help me to be aware of changes in my walk with You, and reveal any sin that clogs my understanding. I do want to "see" You. When I'm slow to find sin and deal with it, use others in my life to bring it to my attention and help me clean it out. Renew a right spirit in me, so nothing is in the way of knowing You.