"Don't Just Sweep It Under The Rug"

Tonight we were eating Santa Fe Soup and tortilla chips. These cool nights just set themselves up for cozy food and soup is a cozy food. I asked Caleb to pass me the chips. He grabbed a handful and walked them around the table. (We need to work on table etiquette.) As he walked around he dropped one and instead of cleaning it up, he crushed it with his feet. (I don't know why. I'm still scratching my head.) Matt said, "Caleb, you don't crush it son, you pick it up." Matt walked in the laundry room to get a broom and when he came back he couldn't find not one sign of a crumb on the floor. "Caleb, where did the crumbs go?" I saw the grin on his face and I knew what he had done. He swept it all under the rug with his hand. Matt made him lift the rug up so they could sweep it up. He then had a talk with Caleb and this is what he asked him, "Caleb, is that how mommy cleans? Do you see mommy sweeping things under the rug?"

"No, Sir!"
"When you do that it is showing a lack of respect for your mommy and it is not honoring to her."

I am glad my children don't think I sweep things under the rug, but when Matt asked that question conviction fell upon my heart until I could feel it sweating from the inside out. I would never dare to sweep dirt under the rug. Heavens no!  But oh how often I sweep the dirt of my heart under the rug. Daily I let things go and instead of cleaning them up, I sweep them under the rug hoping no one will notice and I can maintain my appearance of clean. After all, if it is under the rug who else will know? Which then brings me to the question of why am I pursuing holiness? Do I do it so that I appear holy before others or am I pursuing holiness because He has called me is Holy? If I am pursuing holiness for Him and to bring Him glory then sweeping things under the rug will never work. It WILL be found! The negative thoughts, the impatient words, the lack of trust, the heart of discontentment will all be laid out for all to see one day. Just as Matt explained to Caleb, it is a lack of respect and it is not honoring to my Father to know what He has called me to do and yet still do it my way.  We are called to confess our sins before Him and we have the promise that as we do that He will forgive us, yet somehow it is easier and less painful to sweep them under the rug and never really acknowledge them as sin and follow that acknowledgement with repentance. When was the last time you truly went before the Lord asking Him to show you the sins in your heart and life and you spent time confessing them to Him? We need to be doing this daily...moment by moment, as we recognize those thoughts, attitudes and actions as sinful. Pray with me that we as children who seek to honor and respect our Father will not become accustomed to sweeping it under the rug, but instead we will seek to live holy and blameless before Him.

James 5:16 "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
I John 1:8-9 "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."