The Hidden Corners of Your Heart

Psalm 19:12 (New Living Translation) How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults.I am always looking for two things: A bargain, and a way to make cleaning my house easier and more efficient. So when I found these new disposable toilet wands at the Dollar Tree, I thought I had hit the jackpot. You pop these paper brushes, with the soap already on them onto the plastic wand, swish it around your bowl, flush and you're done. I was ecstatic. What a great concept! Until I took them home and tried them.The first thing I noticed was that you can't clean the top or the outside of the rim without making a huge mess. As the paper "brushes" get wet, they fall off the wand. I spent more time cleaning up after my efficiency cleaning than it would have taken me to clean it the old fashioned way in the first place. Then I noticed that the fresh scent that powdered cleanser leaves behind was missing. But, I had 8 refills to use so I figured I would just live with it and learn my lesson for next time.Monday, as I was gathering dirty laundry I noticed that a sock had fallen out of the hamper, and had been kicked into the corner of the bathroom. As I bent over to pick it up, something black caught my eye under the rim of my toilet. I dropped to my knees and discovered that there, in the tiny holes where the water comes into the bowl, was the most disgusting mold I had ever laid eyes on. My brushes were too big and too bulky to get into those tiny little crevasses, so awful things were hiding there, and growing without me knowing it. I immediately grabbed a can of cleanser and an old cleaning rag and went to work.Many times in my life, my heart is like that dirty toilet. There are dangerous things lurking in the corners of my heart, growing and I have no idea that they are there. A thought or a feeling that seems innocent or even justified to me...but to God, are just a sin. Remember that God does not have a sin meter where he measures one sin against another and decides that one is not as inexcusable as another. In his eyes, a sin is a sin is a sin. Period.Like David, we need to pray that God will cleanse us from all the sin in our lives. Even the ones we can't see.