Cleanliness is Next to...

CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS - "This ancient proverb is said by some to have come from ancient Hebrew writings. However, its first appearance in English - though in slightly altered form - seems to be in the writings of Francis Bacon. In his 'Advancement of Learning' he wrote: 'Cleanness of body was ever deemed to proceed from a due reverence to God.' Near two centuries later John Wesley in one of his sermons indicated that the proverb was already well known in the form we use today. Wrote Wesley: 'Slovenliness is no part of religion.'Cleanliness is indeed next to Godliness.'" (The Phrase Finder)

Cleanliness can indeed transcend the natural and super impose its self upon the spiritual. Boy ole boy, I must say that there is nothing like a clean house. My wife and I just thoroughly cleaned the house top to bottom and it almost felt Heavenly afterward. The real miracle is in keeping it clean...LOL. Our children noticed the next morning that we'd cleaned the house and said, "wow, we have a new refrigerator and it smells good in here too!" We have some amazingly funny children and basically what they were trying to convey to us is, "wow, you guys should clean like this more often" Not Funny! Most busy people that I know and have visited their home will say, "hey I use to stress my self out about keeping the house spotless in the middle of a hectic schedule but not anymore because I am not trying to impress anyone anymore! It will get cleaned when it gets cleaned." Trust and know that we know the feeling of going through a full day non stop to come home late at night to an un-Godly odor from something in the trash, a sink full of dishes, dirty kitchen floor, piles of dirty clothes, and oh yeah we HAVEN"T HAD ANYTHING TO EAT YET so to top it all off dinner must be prepared, ha! Can I get an AMEN?

What's the funniest is that it seems as if everyone unexpectedly visits your home after the tornado has passed through it. But we do understand the importance of cleanliness (not OCD) and how most times it is a reflection of what is on the inside of a person. Now the last sentence can definitely die the death of a thousand qualifications but the true underlying statement is this: God desires for us to be clean, spiritually , mentally and physically, no matter how hard it is to scrub ourselves off of the floor or the time it takes to do so. Why? because He is clean and we are His children, created in His Image according to His likeness so in essence it is our duty to persistently become more like God.

My Uncle in Miami mentioned to me, "most companies that have business names with God on them or anything closely related to Christianity are usually the most un-appealing and dingiest" this is sad and often times true and the same could be reversed and said about a business with a secular name. For some odd reason, I strongly believe that subconsciously everyone (spiritual or not) knows an unclean entity that has a Godly name is a shame. What's more strange is that most people can't explain why they hold the Godly entity to such a higher standard than the rest.

This in other words proves our point how cleanliness is next to Godliness.

Always in Love,

Kevin and Deon Myers