Monthly Archives: April 2022

At the Edison household, we’re in full spring cleaning mode. The recent cold weather had put a damper on our efforts, but it’s supposed to be in the 70’s today, so we’re out of excuses. It’s time to get dusting and mopping, sorting and discarding, scrubbing and cleaning.

We have another incentive to get this place cleaned up today. A friend is coming to stay with us for a while. She can’t get into her new place for a few days and we’ve got a spare bedroom, so we invited her to stay there till her place opens up. We want her to feel at home when she gets here, which is why we’re doubling down on our efforts to get this place looking shipshape.

Besides my house there’s another place that could use a good spring cleaning – my heart. Over time it’s gotten filled up with guilt and shame, old hurts and disappointments, broken promises, and thoughts that really should never see the light of day. I really should get it cleaned up, but I keep putting it off.

The problem is, I’ve got a friend who wants to come in and stay with me, not just for a while, but permanently. His name is Jesus. He’s the best friend anyone could ever ask for and I’d really like to invite Him in, but I’m embarrassed. This place is such a mess!

But then I hear Him say, “Stop worrying about it. If you confess your sins, I am faithful and just to forgive your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). In other words, “Just open the door. Let me in. Don’t worry about the mess. I’ll take care of it.”

Jesus is the best kind of guest I could ever ask for! He doesn’t expect me to get things all spic-and-span in my life before I invite Him in. He just wants to be with me, no matter how messed up I am inside. He says, “This job’s too big for you anyway. Let me get to work. When I’m done ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.’” (Isaiah 1:18).

This morning do you hear Jesus knocking on the door of your heart too? If so, then stop worrying about the mess you’re in. You can’t clean it up by yourself anyway, but He can. Just open the door and let Him get to work. You’ll be amazed how much better things look when He’s done!

Open the door! It’s Cleaning Day!

What would you do if you knew you literally had just hours to live? How would you spend your time if ahead lay betrayal, beatings, and a horrendous, painful death on the cross?

Jesus knew all this, yet what did He do at this moment?

He washed feet.

Taking off his outer clothing, pouring water into a basin, he “began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded.” (John 13:4 NKJV).

He washed feet.

The King of the Universe, Creator of all things, knelt down and washed feet. With a horrific death just hours away, Jesus washed his disciples filthy, dusty, callused feet.

How humiliating! Yet how like Jesus. This was how Jesus had always lived his life, so why not here at the very end?

Matthew 20:28 tells us Jesus “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Jesus’ life was a life of service, of self-sacrifice, and He calls us to follow His example. Philippians 2:5 tells us to “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…”

This Easter weekend, as we remember Jesus’ gift to us in dying on the Cross for our sin and celebrate His resurrection with its promise of a better tomorrow, let us also remember the example He set of service to others. Let’s make service to others the center of our lives too and determine, in all that we do, to do what Jesus did.

He washed feet.

We woke this morning to a winter wonderland – in April!

Waking to a world covered in white was, to say the least, unexpected. Ana’s already got tomatoes coming up under the grow lights in our bedroom and the garden is tilled and ready for planting. It’s supposed to be spring, but here I am having to dust snow off my car! Granted this is a minor setback, but still this is ridiculous!

One thing you can always expect in this crazy world is the unexpected. A little snow in the second week in April is not a big deal, but some surprises are not as pleasant and carry with them more serious consequences. Just this last week I had to let one of my patients know the mass under her arm needed to be biopsied to rule out cancer. Not the kind of news anyone wants to hear.

Whether it is an unfavorable diagnosis, an unexpected job loss, the sudden death of a loved one, or any of the innumerable other unpleasant surprises which may come your way, there is one thing you can always count on. Your Heavenly Father will “never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6). He will always be your “refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1).

On days when the unexpected shakes my world, the following quote from the book Ministry of Healing, p. 481, always brings me hope. It says:

“Worry is blind and cannot discern the future; but Jesus sees the end from the beginning. In every difficulty He has His way prepared to bring relief…Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us of which we know nothing.”

This week, expect the unexpected, but don’t give in to worry or despair. God’s got this! More importantly He’s got you! And He will never, ever let you go!

Have a great week!