It is a constant source of amazement to me the visuals that the Lord employs to drive a point home. A visual this week convinced me that He can use ANYTHING.
On Tuesday I had an appointment with a septic tank company to pump our septic tank. Already, you are thinking, ‘I’m not sure I can stomach this!’ Stay with me! I promise it won’t be as bad as you are imagining.
We have lived in our home for 10 years and had never had the tank cleaned out. My Daddy built our home and we knew approximately where the tank was located but the marker had long since gotten buried in the dirt, so some locating was required.
The men arrived and asked if I knew where the tank was located. I showed them the general area and they began probing the ground, looking for the tank. After 45 minutes of probing, they had not found it and decided to employ more sophisticated means of locating the tank. They opened up the cleanout, which was situated on our patio, and snaked a long tube through the cleanout until it hit the baffle on the tank. (Don’t I sound like I know so much about septic tanks? Trust me; I only learned all this on Tuesday.) They also brought out a small television set, causing me to wonder if they had grown bored with the business of locating and had decided to take a break for Jerry Springer.
Anyway, I digress. The tube had a sonar camera thingy on the end of it and as it ran down the length of the pipe, it projected an image on the TV screen. I could see things that I had hoped never, ever to have to see!! As the sonar/camera thing went down the length of the pipe, one of the men held a long wand type thing that picked up the sonar waves being emitted from underground. Using this technology, they were able to locate precisely where my septic tank was located. Yea!!
Once they located the tank they told me that I had a tank with dual holding compartments. One for the solids and one for the liquids. Yea, again! Within several minutes I had two large holes dug in my yard and the cleanout was underway. The smell did not cause me to say ‘Yea”.
Bet you would like for me to make application with this, huh? Here goes.
Our hearts are the septic tanks prior to Jesus coming into them to live. They are loaded with filth and sin. One compartment holds the sins that we consider to be small, while the other compartment houses those sins that we are reluctant to confess and repent—our pet sins, our private sins. As God calls our hearts to Him in salvation, He sends the Holy Spirit into our hearts with heavenly sonar to seek out the sin that needs to be cleaned out. Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit also works topside to convict us of the very sin that He is exposing with His holy sonar/camera thingy. Once we agree with God about our sin and repent of it, then He can do the work of cleaning out our hearts so they are fit for the presence of Christ to live.
Just like my septic tank, our hearts need regular maintenance and cleaning. We must daily allow the Holy Spirit to seek out the sin within our hearts and expose it to the light of Christ. Once exposed, we must confess those sins and turn from them. It is only when we perform this regular maintenance that we are in right relationship with Jesus and our hearts and lives are usable to Christ.
Check your tank!!!
