Clean and Soapless
Thursday, April 26, 2012 Posted by Debbie Legg
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Of
course, rather than focusing on the extensive and beautiful symbolism of water,
my little brain immediately went to the distinct lack of a cleansing
agent. “What? No bleach?
No peroxide? No ammonia, vinegar
or lemon juice? Are you kidding me? NO SOAP?!
ONLY WATER?!” [shudders from the
heebie-jeebies]
With
all we know today about germs and viruses and bacteria, to wash with only water
seems downright dangerous. Surely at the
very least we should pray over the water, as we pray over meals, right? That way at least if the water is
contaminated we can ask God to protect us from it…
That’s
when I remembered the important factor I’d left out of the equation.
God.
He
said water. He meant water. Plain, simple water.
This
is the God who can turn water into wine (and good wine at that), walk on it,
calm it down, and make it into something living. I’m guessing he knows a little bit about its
effectiveness to clean people and their stuff.
Maybe
we make it harder than it is. Just
as we don’t need all kinds of ceremonies and fancy prayers to be saved, we
don’t need all kinds of chemicals and cleansing agents to be clean. We are saved by a simple confession (Romans
10:9). We are baptized simply with water
(Matthew 28:19).
But
the cleansing of water doesn’t end there.
We have the Spirit, the Living Water, in us. “Whoever
believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will
flow from within them.” (John 7:38)
Clean
on the outside and clean on the inside.
Yep, hold the bleach. I think a dousing, dunking or drink of water is good enough for me.
