Seventeen Days – What to Pack

As I said yesterday, I’m getting ready for the Great Banquet.  Preparing to go, I will make my “normal” list of things to pack, have a map to get there, phone numbers just in case – I like to be prepared.

All of those things are needed, I mean clean socks, underwear, and a toothbrush are absolute necessities.  Still, my bigger packing list needs to include some other things.  I need to make sure that I have prepared my heart (kind of like doing the laundry).  “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalms 51:10.  So, what I get from that is that God has to clean my heart and restore me. 

Digging a little deeper, to clean my heart – I think of cleaning the kitchen or the bathroom.  I use strong cleansers that remove germs and kitchen spills.  Psalms 51 talks about cleansing with hyssop.  I’ve never seen hyssop, so I did a little research on this plant.  It’s a bushy evergreen with several uses.  The flower tops were used for an expectorant, to help heal bruises and cuts, diaphoretic (induces sweating), pectoral (medicine for respiratory disorders like asthma), carminative (gets rid of gas – relieves the pressure and pain), and to help relieve rheumatism pain.  There are also several time that it is mentioned that this plant produces a wonderful aromatic smell, something refreshing.  So, if I ask God to clean me with hyssop, it is much more than cleaning the surface, it’s a complete cleansing from the inside and out. 

“…Let the bones you have crushed rejoice” (Psalms 51:10b).  Has God crushed your bones before?  Imagine how painful it would be to have a bone crushed.  That type of injury wounds so severely that without proper and extensive treatment, there is a real possibility of permanent damage.  Why would God crush bones?  Well, sometimes an injury requires further injury before healing.  If a bone is not set properly, there are consequences, even though it may mean further pain at first.  But, here David talks about the bones God has crushed, and if someone is going to crush my bones – I would prefer God rather than anyone else.  He is the Great Healer after all! 

Okay – so, here we are at day 17, and I’m asking for my heart to be cleansed, so that I am ready for what will be poured into me by Him in a few weeks.