A water filter
Something of necessity and used daily in my life right now
Well that is unless I want to drink dirty water
And risk getting a parasite or infection
So I choose to use the water filter
What’s the purpose?
To pump dirty water from one bucket to another bucket of clean water
In order to purify the water and prevent me from getting some foreign disease
Then the water will be cleansed and I can drink it
Without fear of becoming sick
I went outside to talk with our contact, Megh
And see if he needed help doing anything
He actually did need my help as he was beginning to clean the water filter
Perfect timing!
I asked him why we needed to clean it
And he showed me one of the tubes
Mold was all inside
There was no way it was purifying the water with so much mold in the tube
And then he took the filter out
And it as well was moldy and just plain dirty
We began to try and clean all of the funk out of the tube
But the problem was it was a long, narrow tube
And we were using a toothpick and some water
Clearly this wasn’t going to work
There was no way we could reach the middle of a long, narrow tube with a short toothpick
I just laughed and told Megh we needed another idea
Full of constant energy he runs inside and grabs a piece of cloth
He comes right back outside and begins to twist it and work it down into the tube
Sounds like a good plan, right?
Unfortunately the cloth was a little thick and it wasn’t going down the tube very well
Time for a new plan
Back to the drawing board
He runs inside again and this time comes out with a needle and string
He ties the needle to the string
And the other end of the string to the cloth
Slowly the needle falls through the tube
And eventually with much pushing and shoving
The cloth is fed all the way through the tube
But the tube is still dirty on the inside
It still has to be cleaned
Having the cloth inside the tube has done nothing but clog it up
The mold still needs to be removed
We could pull the cloth back and forth within the tube
But that was still too hard
And it wouldn’t really help with the cleaning aspect
Soap and water of course!
What else would you use for cleaning?
With the soap and water on the cloth it slide back and forth wonderfully within the tube
It was working!
The tube was being cleansed from all of the mold and filth.
It took work and actually a lot of time but the tube was clean in the end
The filth was removed
The tube was pure and clear and could now properly function
As we worked on this project I couldn’t help but think of my life
And how my life relates to this water filter
Jesus is my purifier
He is the one who takes away the filth
Who takes the mess and turns it into something beautiful
He takes what can not be used for good and makes it useful
He cleanses my life
But that isn’t all
Because where we spent most of our time working wasn’t on the water pump as a whole
But instead on the one tube
The tube that is my life
My life gets clogged up
It gets moldy and dirty on the inside
It needs to be cleaned out
To be refined and purified
Sure the filter has taken the main stuff away
Jesus has brought freedom and grace to my life
But I still mess up
I still lose focus and heart
And need little clean ups
And that is exactly what my father does for me
He takes me apart
And lays me aside to work on just me
It isn’t always a quick process
Some times there are many steps
It takes work and effort on my part
But the end result is worth it all
In the end I stand completely pure and whole
I look not only clean from the outside
But the inside is free from all the junk
The filth and mold that was there is taken away
That doesn’t mean it isn’t painful or a struggle
Pushing the cloth through the tube was a fight
But it was worth the fight
Because once finished we had a clean and pure tube
And in the end Jesus has me
Standing before him praising him
Thanking him for the purification
Proclaiming that he is the only one who can bring about this cleanliness
And once clean and pure then I can see others as he sees them
I can love others with the love he has for me
I can speak truth as he has spoken truth to me
When the filth has been removed
I can do the work he has created for me
I can bring glory to his name
I can declare his love to the nations
9/13/12
