Do you remember the kitchen towels that had different chores for each day of the week? Maybe your Mom had them or maybe you remember them fondly from your grandmother’s kitchen.
I found them in both those homes and in fact, those towels provided me with my first lessons in embroidery. According to the towels, Monday is wash day but since we were moving back from the racetrack on Monday, Wednesday became laundry day and so will today.
Too many loads to handle in one day so I divided it up.
A week or so ago I was telling Dave one of my memories from our early years of marriage. We were poor and money for groceries was often scarce. I told him I talked to the Lord about this and knew in my heart that one day I would no longer have to shop with my calculator in one hand and my grocery list in the other. Every purchase had to be considered because I only had so much that I could spend.
But…I didn’t tell him the rest of the story. The other part of my conversation with the Lord was about our clothing. It was necessary to do laundry several times a week so that we would have clean clothes to wear. To say our wardrobe was limited would be an understatement.
For years now, I thank the Father for prospering us. I no longer take a calculator to the grocery store and the only reason I have to do laundry more than once a week is because the hamper it full.
The Lord has taught me many lessons on wash day.
Hanging clothes on the line in those early days were some of my favorite times with the Lord. He taught me the meaning of so many Scriptures as I would reach in the basket of wet laundry and take the clothes pins from the bag. Yesterday’s lesson was a different one with no clothes line, this time there’s a dryer, but there was still a teaching to be learned.
“After Jesus said this, he spit on the dirt, made some mud and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 Jesus told him, “Go and wash in Siloam pool.” (Siloam means “Sent.”) So the man went to the pool, washed and came back. He was now able to see.” John 9:6-7 ERV
Washing was important in the Bible. It was an action of promise. For the blind man it was an act of faith and obedience that gave him his sight.
For a man named Naaman II Kings 5), obediently washing brought cleansing from leprosy. But the washing that stands out most in my mind was when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples.
“When Jesus finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and went back to the table. He asked, “Do you understand what I did for you?…14 I am your Lord and Teacher. But I washed your feet. So you also should wash each other’s feet. 15 I did this as an example for you. So you should serve each other just as I served you.” John 13:12-15 ERV
Washing was an act of serving, an act of love. I hope this gives you a whole new outlook for Wash Day.