Ironed Shirts

 

I was one of four boys.  My sister was born when I was sixteen, so us boys had to do a lot of housework growing up.  My mother taught me how to sew up tea towels.  She showed me how to wash dishes and wash clothes, and how to iron shirts.  She showed how to get the creases straight and the collars flat.  Mom had a Dr. Pepper bottle with a sprinkler stopper on it.  She filled it with water, sprinkled the shirts, rolled them up and a few minutes later when the water was evenly dispersed, she would unroll them and iron them.  I remember the hiss of the steam as the shirts were smoothed out.  Billowy clouds of steam would float up as the damp clothes were ironed flat and crispy with sharp creases.  It took heat and pressure to make the shirts look nice.  But the shirts never complained.  The heat and pressure was necessary to make the shirts presentable and useful for Sunday morning church.  Hey, it’s our responsibility as Christians to keep ourselves pure so that our dear Lord can use us.  Paul said in II Timothy 2:21, “If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.”  Are you ready to be used of the Lord?  Are you clean? Are you pressed and smoothed out?  It takes pressure and heat to be prepared.  Don’t fight God’s molding you.  Let God work in your life to make you useful to Him.