Laundry

My grandsons get their clothes changed quite frequently. Even a little bit of sour spit-up is unpleasant, and who wants to deal with those sticky sleeves after a session in the high chair? It's not that they're trying to get dirty, it's just the natural result of being a baby. Living can be messy!
I once had an unfortunate, but enlightening, laundry experience. Baby clothes, even crusty bibs or stinky diapers, would have been a breeze in comparison. My pastor-husband called from church one day, asking me to bring over some jeans, a shirt, and a set of underwear. He had a homeless man in the office, and wanted to give him something to wear. And, by the way, would I wash his clothes? I figured it wouldn't be a hard task; I'd throw them in the washer, fluff them in the dryer, and the guy could be on his way. Well, when they handed me the black garbage bag containing his soiled clothes I should have taken the hint and dropped them in the church dumpster on my way home....
I'm a nurse, so it takes a lot to make me gag, but I'll admit to a lot of gagging that afternoon, as I washed and re-washed those clothes. The stench was horrific, and I don't know if it actually hung in the air for days or if it was only the memory of it, imbedded in my olfactory sensors.
I mentioned the experience was enlightening, because it brought to mind a Bible passage from Isaiah 64:6, "...all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment". Just think about it... if our righteous deeds are a stench in God's nostrils, what about our sins?
That homeless man wasn't trying to be filthy; he just didn't have a way to get clean. As I recall, he was grateful for the clean clothes and meal, but not too concerned about inner cleansing or spiritual nourishment. We sent him on his way a shade cleaner, but nowhere near the "whiter than snow" cleansing that God's word promises. When He washes us, our lives can be a "fragrance of Christ to God" (2 Cor. 2:15).
There's more to be said about "good deeds", but that's another blog.