CLEAN WINDOWS!

Today I spent a good 2-2 1/2 hours cleaning the windows in the front part of my house. I have 12 windows just in the living area of my home. This window pictured is 1 of 8 huge picture windows that give a panoramic view of the back part of our property and the surrounding countryside. The view is gorgeous....when the windows are clean!

I truly do not clean my windows unless we are having a large fellowship or someone is visiting who has not seen my house before! I HATE cleaning my windows, as you might imagine, simply because it takes me 2-3 hours to do JUST the front area of my house! I still have 10 other windows throughout my house that I have not touched yet because the front part of the house wears me out!

Even though I hate the act of cleaning my windows, when I finish and gaze through them out to the beauty beyond I soak in all I have missed since the last time I cleaned my windows. If you think about it, the dirt, dog nose smudges, finger prints and rain drop spots all work together to distort the view through the window. Dirty windows are so ugly when the light hits them just right and all you see is the filth and the beauty beyond is forgotten because all we concentrate on is how dirty the window is. When surprise guests arrive and I know my windows are filthy I often close the blinds and hide them, not allowing people to see the view from my dirty windows. I also get very frustrated when I clean my windows because they never stay clean for long. It seems like not 5 minutes goes by before a dog smudges the glass with thier nose, or the kids put their hands on the glass as they exit the sliding glass door! In order to have the perfect view, I would have to clean my windows daily!

The Lord spoke to me today as I worked diligently to clean my windows. He said "isn't it funny how our lives are just like these dirty windows?" As I thought about that, I had to agree. Like the beautiful views out my window, so is Christ! He is beautiful and he wants us to experience him, soak him in and share him with others. We are the windows to all Jesus Christ has to offer! As we allow this window of Christ to get dirty and smudged with sin, character issues, anger, defensiveness and the list rolls on, we distort the view of Christ for others. They are unable to look past our filth and see the beauty of Christ that lies just on the other side of the glass. We need to allow Christ to come in and clean our windows and get us shiney and beautiful again. It is a daily task, heck sometimes it has to be a minute-by-minute task!

These past several months I have recognized the value of allowing Christ to come into my life and clean my windows. He has shown me some real "ugly spots" in my life that probably have distracted others from seeing Christ in me. These "cleaning sessions" have not been fun, but as the smudges, dirt and spots are rubbed away I feel Christ shining through me more and more. I want to proudly show others the view of Jesus Christ through the clean window of ME! I won't always be perfect and, just as my dogs quickly smudge up my windows at home, so I will smudge up the window which shows Christ. However, like any good home owner, Christ will always come back and clean me up again. The question is...do I want my windows clean? Am I willing to sacrifice time and energy to do the "maintenance" needed to keep the view of Christ through me clear and beautiful? Lord, help me get into the habit of asking myself these questions DAILY!