Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
Yesterday I picked up our dog’s water bowl as I do daily. Usually, it is in the morning first thing. I will get them food then pick up the water bowl, rinse it out, and fill it with nice fresh water. It’s important for people to have fresh water and just as important for dogs, especially if it is hot outside. It’s part of taking care of a pet.
When I was rinsing out the dog’s water bowl yesterday a thought came to me. This is like how we are to be with our daily lives living as Christ would want us to. Daily we are to pick up the bowl, dump out any leftover dirty looking water, rinse the bowl, and fill it with fresh water. As I said, daily. It may seem repetitious, and you would think if there was still water in the bowl it would be fine. But we do this for our pets because we love them and want to make sure they stay healthy.
We must do the same thing. Every morning, we need to die to self. We need to dump out the dirty, messed up yuck sitting in the low parts of ourselves. Rinse our minds and hearts out with prayer and thank Him for all the many blessings He has given us and fill ourselves with His word. We need to allow Him to cleanse us daily. By doing this we can continue moving forward and serving Him in so many ways.
Empty yourself of all the old, dirty “water”. Rinse out all the left-over debris in the bottom of the “bowl” with prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving. Fill yourself with His word. Serve Him the best way you can.
Fresh is always better and daily is necessary. It renews our hearts, minds, and faith. He will make sure we have what we need for eternity.