Resting in the Rinse

We recently washed our carpet. It was an emergency! (...enough said.) We have had carpet for five years and this is the first time we ever shampooed it with three boys living here. It looks pretty good now, but we honestly thought we would have to replace it all. The thing about suds-ing up the ol' shag is that the soap on the fibers attract more dirt. You really have to rinse it well, then rinse it, and then rinse it some more to keep it looking nice. For some reason this really struck home with me about how we do with our spiritual walk. We get the "I'm clean" revelation (which is very important) but then we forget we need to be continually rinsed. Just wallowing in the knowledge of cleanliness without ever coming into contact with the "rinser" can make us filthier than ever. We attract "doctrines." We box God in. We limit ourselves with our own beliefs. We become Pharisaical. "I've been washed, dadgumit! I am right! I KNOW that KNOW!" This goes along with a little vision the Lord gave me during worship a little while back.

I saw a river twisting through the land. People were floating in the river like they were on tubes except they were not floating on anything. They were just so relaxed and at peace that they seemed to be floating carefree down the river. There were patches of land that the river wound wind around. People gathered on these little patches of land. Some people floating down the river would decide to walk onto shore. The further down the river, the more spiritually awakened the people were. People from the mainland would get to the river through these gatherings on the little peninsulas. Some of the gatherings still made reference to the river and even used water from the river. Some gatherings were so engulfed in their gather that they hardly acknowledged the river at all. I know the river represented the Spirit of God and the people floating were resting and flowing in the Spirit. I saw Wayne and I get back in the river. That brought a lot of comfort to me with so many changes in our lives at the moment. We can't see on down the river, but I know it is a good place to be. We will enjoy and rest in this journey. It is time to for us to be washed off and learn what it means for us to continually live in the rinse cycle. We can never think we know all the answers. All we know is where have been. To settle in the fact that we KNOW, is to deny that the river continues. Our "spirituality" then becomes more like a dead sea than a living water. There are things to learn. I don't want to miss it just because I've been washed once. I am content to know I know nothing, and excited to rest into revelation.