Keeping the floors clean can be a challenge. Twice a year we have to deal with two-plus months of dog hair on the floor as our pooch sheds out her summer or winter coat. In the late fall, right through to the early spring, we have to deal with little pieces of gravel on the floor that comes in on our shoes when they have been sanding the slippery roads. All through late spring and early fall we deal with mud coming in on our shoes, and when my wife has been out horseback riding, what comes in on her feet not only makes a mess, but it makes you pinch your nose as well, if you get my “drift”!

There are times during the year that my wife is vacuuming every day or two. I feel sorry for her having to lug the vacuum up and down the stairs so often; and besides that, neither the dog nor I “love” the sucking sounds of the motor. The dog runs and hides. I tend to just try to grit my teeth and bear it!

When we moved to this house, we didn’t have a dog. Instead, we had a long-haired cat, and I bought my wife a robot vacuum that she affectionately calls “Molly”. That is, when she’s not mad at it! When she is … Well she doesn’t call it anything out loud, but I can tell by the expression on her face that she is thinking some pretty non-complimentary things about the little round robot! Shortly after we moved here, however, we gave our cat to our son, and because we had primarily purchased the vac to keep the cat hair under control, it went with the cat. Only in the past two months has it returned to our house. This one makes a noise as well, but it isn’t as intimidating for the dog, and I kind of enjoy watching it scoot across the floor in search of crumbs and pet hair and gravel!

Now Molly isn’t all that good at getting a very dirty floor clean. She simply isn’t strong enough to pick up the ground-in dog hair or too many rocks or crumbs. She does, however, do a pretty good job on the floors that are only a little dirty. As such, she doesn’t replace the primary vacuum; but if run often enough, she does eliminate the need for my wife to use the primary vacuum more than once a week!

This kind of reminds me of our human nature. Before we accept Jesus into our lives, we are very dirty. We are like the carpets with weeks of ground-in dog fur and gravel and dirt and grime. In fact, the Bible tells us that we were, in essence, the “walking dead”: “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins…All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.” (Ephesians 2:1,3 NLT). But Jesus’ blood washes over us, cleansing us of our sin: “even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)” (Ephesians 2:5 NLT), Praise be to Jesus, His blood, shed at Calvary, washes us white as snow: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18 NIV). Though we don’t deserve it, Jesu’s blood sends our sins far away from us: “…as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us…” (Psalms 103:12 NIV). Jesus’ blood is the master “vacuum”, the ultimate in heart cleansing!

The problem is, our lives are a little like our floors: They don’t stay clean! We continue to sin on a daily basis! Although Jesus’ forgiveness is forever, His blood cleansed us once and for all, ensuring our salvation, our daily continued propensity towards sin interferes with our relationship with God: “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2 NIV).

I think Jesus Himself puts this very clearly. It was the last supper, and Jesus, the Master, the Teacher Himself, was going around washing everyone’s feet. Peter, however, had a problem with this: “He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?…No…you shall never wash my feet.’” (John 13:6,8 NIV, emphasis mine). Jesus’ responds with: “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” (John 13:9 NIV), to which Peter, in typical fashion, responds very cheekily with: “Then, Lord…not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” (John 13:10 NIV). Jesus’ response to Peter at this point confirms for us that our Salvation is secure; but that sometimes we need a little touch-up job! “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean…” (John 13:10a NIV). Just like our floor needs the robo-vac from time to time between cleanings, we also need some sin clean-up!

But Jesus’ blood already did its job. What is the “robo-vac” for our continued daily sin?

Jesus tells us this in the Lord’s Prayer: “And forgive us our debts…” (Matthew 6:12 NIV). In this prayer, Jesus isn’t telling us that if we don’t ask for daily forgiveness we aren’t saved. Rather, He is giving us the key to the “robo-vac” kinds of sin-cleaning! Confession, renouncement and repentance!

Jesus’ brother, James, puts it this way: “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16 NIV). When we confess our sins, we are opening the door for us to be healed, and also ensuring that our prayers are effective, because it is the prayer of a righteous person that is powerful and effective! Thus, our prayers are affected if we have unconfessed sin in our lives!

Jesus’ beloved disciple, who was incidentally present at the Lord’s supper, witnessed the foot washing and no doubt overhead Jesus’ exchange with Peter, puts it like this: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 NIV). Confession opens the door for God’s purification of all unrighteousness! When we confess, we are allowing God to deliver us of the evil that our sin is rooted in!

One more quote, this time from the world’s wisest man: “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,
but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13 NIV). Here we see that unconfessed sin interferes with us being able to prosper, while confessed sin leads to mercy.

I encourage each of us today to take a look at the “floors” of our hearts. Have you ever had that power clean that comes from accepting Jesus into your heart? If not, I encourage you to do so today. We can help you, if you click here!

If you have already accept Jesus into your heart, your “heart floors” may still be a bit dirty from the daily sin we all commit. Why not consider running the “robo-vac”? Why not spend some time with God confessing that sin? When you do, you will be opening the door to a relationship with God; you will be clearing everything that stands in the way of your healing, your prayers will be “powerful and effective”, and you will receive mercy!

And do you want to know the best part? Remember I said my wife gets mad at Molly from time to time … That’s because sometimes she doesn’t do her job very well. Our “robo-vac”, confession, works to its maximum potential — every time! And you don’t even need to recharge its batteries!

Inspired by Rob Chaffart
Founder, Answers2Prayer Ministries