Crumb by Crumb // evaluating yourself

I grab at the broom. Swoosh, bump, swoosh, swoosh, bump, swooosh (yea, I'm a bit clumsy). The sound of the broom gliding over the dirty floor, picking up the many crumbs we've left from the past three meals combined with the shine of the clean floor comforts and relaxes me. I sweep the entire kitchen floor, taking my sweet time and making sure I got all the crumbs. ​

​When I finish, I put the broom away and get the little sweeper, the one that's the size of my two hands put together. I sit on the floor and sweep up all the crumbs that I've gathered in a little corner into the dustpan. As I turn around, my eye catches a stray crumb small enough that I failed to see it when I was standing. I sweep that one up, and then I spot another. And another. And another. By the time I finally stop, I've probably swept up more than thirty extra crumbs. 

I hope I didn't bore you to death with this story. Honestly, sweeping is therapy to me - it's cleaning up what is dirty and making it clean. But let me connect the story to something more realistic: 

When I was standing up, sweeping, I could see a lot of crumbs. Likewise, I can see a lot of sin in my life. But when I get down, on eye level with the ground, I could see there were so many crumbs I'd missed. When we get down and really investigate, and dig deep, and evaluate ourselves, we see sins, struggles, and temptations that we hadn't seen before. But we also see victories. Triumphs. Small joys. When I got on the floor to sweep up the crumbs, I not only saw thirty something missed crumbs, but I saw that the vast majority of the floor was clean and beautiful. 

"You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye" (Matthew 7:5). I do this so much. I see the fault in everyone else, but I fail to check myself, to get down and evaluate and see the plank in my own eye. To see my own sin. I'm looking down from 5ft 5in above the ground - no wonder I can't see the crumb. I'm not saying that sin is that tiny - but sometimes it's not super clear. 

​Today, I challenge you to take just ten minutes out of your day and evaluate yourself. Ask God to reveal those hidden sins to you. For some of you, you're refusing to see the sin. You've told yourself over and over that it's nothing, just a little fun, and you believe it now. Ask Him to make you aware of the consequences, the reality of that sin, and to help you to stop and change. You are never too far gone.