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Oct 30, 2024 06:00am

Don’t Forget the Soap

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You’re busy. Work, kids, meals to prepare, meetings to attend, games, recitals, practice, church, the grocery store… there are a million things on your list, and laundry is one of them. You try to squeeze it in between helping kids with homework, walking the dog, and picking up the same toys you’ve picked up daily for the last 84 years. Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but you feel it.

You toss the clothes in, set the cycle, and head out the door.

Later, while cooking dinner, you remember your clothes in the washer and run to throw them in the dryer.

As you open the lid and pull out the first shirt, you can see something isn’t right.

Something is missing.

You forgot the soap.

Are your clothes clean? No. They’ve been washed in water only. It may have removed some of that outer dirt, but the clothes are still dirty. You fill the cup with detergent, and immediately, the smell fills your senses. You toss it in and hit the wash cycle again.

When you pull them out of the washer this time, you can smell and see the difference.

Acts 19:1-7
“While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples
2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied.
4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”
5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
7 There were about twelve men in all.”

Paul met some men who claimed to be believers. But he knew something was missing. Something in their encounter led Paul to believe that they were still in need.

So, he asks them if they received the Holy Spirit when they believed.

Puzzled faces stared back at Paul.

“We haven’t heard of any Holy Spirit.”

Paul’s first impression was correct, and he knew what they needed, so he asked more questions to help reveal the truth.

He asked, “What baptism did you receive?” And the men declared that they were baptized of John. And then Paul expounded the truth to them.

See, they had simply been washed in water. They were missing the main ingredient – Jesus! The Holy Spirit was not present with them.

They were missing the soap.

Here’s what I love about it. They didn’t argue with Paul. They didn’t tell him they were just fine. They didn’t try to tell Paul he was wrong. There was no great debate. They heard the truth, believed in Jesus as the one who could save them, and were baptized again.

So, what does that mean for us today?

Without Jesus, water is just water.

Knowing who Jesus is, realizing what He did for you, confessing your sins, and accepting that He alone can forgive you leads to salvation.

He is what cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

We can’t forget the soap.

Want to know more about what it looks like to follow Jesus? Go to follow.lifeword.org.