This evening I came home and attacked my oven. I attacked it with baking soda and vinegar. Then I attacked the microwave with the same concoction. My husband wouldn’t be shy to tell you that I loathe cleaning of any kind but I do it anyways. I would rather be writing, reading or creating rather than cleaning. It has been a life-long battle against my attitude when I clean. The only way I can clean and keep a good attitude is if everyone is out of the house, radio on and I can focus on my conversation with God.

I use my cleaning time to pray and talk to God and thank Him for everything and tell Him my burdens and seek His face. I have found this helps me not focus on the fact that I’m having to spend precious time cleaning because it makes great use of my time when I spend it with Him.

As I was cleaning tonight and the overwhelming smell of vinegar was swirling around my head, I thought of Jesus on the Cross. Not because I felt like I was being tortured but because of the smell of vinegar.

Matthew 27:34 (KJV) They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.

As a young child in church and hearing this verse my first thought was, “Yuck. Vinegar? Why would they be so mean to him?”

It wasn’t until I was older that I had studied and researched to find differing explanations as to what and why this was offered to him. I’m not going into detail on that subject matter but it is an interesting topic to study up on.

We use vinegar as an all-natural cleaner to disinfect and get rid of grime without harsh chemicals. At least that is what I am hoping happens to my oven. Tomorrow my answer will reveal itself.

What did Jesus accomplish on the cross?  A whole lot. In my prayer time tonight, as I inhaled the smell of vinegar, I thought about the sacrifice He made for me. The grace He provides for me every day. The mercy He has shown me over the years. The grace and mercy I needed today alone and how He willingly gives it. How he represents vinegar in our lives. He is not harsh but fair. His blood makes us white as snow. My sins that saturate and disgrace, He took on the cross. Over two thousand years ago, He knew I would need Him now. So he chose to be beaten. He chose to be tortured. He chose to be spit on. He chose to be called names. He chose to die. I needed Him. I need Him.

Tonight I am overwhelmed with His love. I am just as amazed as I was the first time I accepted Jesus into my heart and felt the love of God. There is nothing greater. There is nothing grander. There is nothing that compares to it. Not even a clean oven.

Isaiah 1:18 (KJV)

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.