Separating Lights and Darks

Today I tackled a project that has been weighing heavily on my mind recently - laundry. The truth is that I let it pile up 'till it got to the point that I couldn't find a thing because my dirty clothes covered every surface because my clean clothes were still in the hamper because I hadn't bothered to take them out. Why? I hate laundry - the sorting, the washing, the drying, and the folding. Oh the folding! It is the worst part of laundry. Not that I am one of those people who folds everything, but some things require it. So anyway, I hate laundry, so I let it pile up, pretending it doesn't exist until I am almost smothered under the weight of it.
Sometimes I do the same thing with sin in my life - I pretend it isn't there or that it isn't as bad as it is, not that any sin is good. I let it fester and grow in the corner of my heart like a rancid laundry hamper, until it overflows into my daily walk, and I can no longer ignore it. The bad thing about sin (and dirty laundry) is that it contaminates the clean stuff it touches, so that everything has to be washed. The good thing is that, unlike dirty laundry, we don't have to launder our hearts - Someone else is willing, even eager, to do it for us.
John puts it beautifully when he says, "if we live in the light in the same way that God is in the light, we have a relationship with each other. And the blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from every sin. If we say, "We aren't sinful" we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we've done wrong. If we say, "We have never sinned," we turn God into a liar and his Word is not in us.*
I'm resolving today to keep my laundry hamper in order, but more importantly, to keep my heart in order, so that sin does not hamper my walk. I'm just thankful that Jesus is willing to take care of my dirty laundry if I just bring it to Him. He get things whiter than any bleach!

*1st John 1:7-10