Stripping and Waxing

It has been too long since the floors at my work were cleaned.  We move 1250 lb cages across the tile.  This tears up the wax and leaves large black marks across the surface.  Those marks are not supposed to be there!  I have tried everything to get the marks out.  They don't scrub, they don't strip out.  The only way to get them out is to painstakingly scrape them off the tile.  This is not a fast process.  As a matter of fact, it takes hours (or even days) to complete.

I decided this week that the floors must be done.  So, we have been stripping, scrubbing and scraping.  Finally, it was completed.  The floors were shiny and new looking (well, as new as 20 year old floors can look).  I love the look of a freshly waxed floor.  I love the clean.  I love the way my entire office looks new again.

I think the process of repentance can be a lot like the tile in my office.  The need for cleansing comes as we become soiled from sin.  We get dirty, marked, scuffed, and the marks just don't come off by themselves.  It takes real effort to remove them.  We have to be willing to change ourselves.  We have to be willing to put aside the things that caused the marks.  We sometimes have to find a new way of doing things.  The Savior can then work on our souls and change our hearts.  He can scrape the black marks off and replace them with new wax.  It might not be easy for us to change.  It requires work and effort on our part.  But change is possible.  We can become clean and pure once again.  The Savior stands at the door and knocks.  He is waiting for us to answer the door.  Our commitment to Him begins as we focus on Him.

May we enjoy the Savior's promise through Moroni in the Book of Mormon, Moroni 10:31-33

31 And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled.

32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.