“Soak me in your laundry, and I’ll come out clean, scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life” (Psalm 51:7, MSG).
When I was younger, I watched my grandmother do the laundry. GM would soak the bed linen first, then boil the white sheets in an enamel pot with bleach. Once cooled, she would rinse them in cold water, wring them out by hand, and hang them on the garden line to dry. Laundry took a while.
My laundry days are much simpler. I turn on the washing machine, add washing powder, whitener, and laundry balls, set the machine to the appropriate programme, and go off to do other things.
On my machine, a 90-degree wash takes about 2 hours and 45 minutes. (There are ways of speeding that up), but the standard wash time is close to three hours, including the pre-wash, similar to what it took my grandmother to complete her linen wash.
Despite the many years that have passed, it still takes time to get laundry clean. It still takes time to bring that fresh look back to the linen. There are a few shortcuts.
Just as laundry needs to be soaked to get clean, our lives sometimes require a period of careful, intentional self-reflection and change. In life, ‘soaking’ means taking time to let go of harmful habits or attitudes. The temptation in the 21st century is to do what you want and ignore the need for true change.
But if you truly wish to change your ways, you must soak. That soaking reflects a desire to be different, to do the right thing. It means asking for forgiveness, maybe making restitution, and it definitely requires a change of heart and mindset.
So today, reflect a little.
Do you need a soak – a true cleansing that leaves you changed?
Do you need a change of heart?
Do you need a fresh start?
Prayer
Father, we often add to pain because we don’t take time to soak.
We live in an age when bad behaviour is often publicly rewarded, and leaders seem to say, “Do and say what you like – it doesn’t matter.”
But we know it matters.
Help us to change our attitudes.
So Lord, soak us and remove our stains.
Help us reflect Your love, compassion, humility, and grace.
Amen.
