Being clean covers a wide spectrum of challenges. To a dad in the midst of the diaper years it can mean one thing. And when a teenage son confesses to his dad that he is struggling with pornography, it takes on a whole different meaning.

As Christians, the charge is simple - be clean. This Holy Week, the week leading up to Easter, think of being clean simply by the grace of our Lord Jesus the Christ. It is eye-opening to reflect on Jesus’ journey to the cross. From the last supper with His disciples to sweating blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, from being arrested and mocked to being flogged and crucified. His journey made it possible for each of us to be clean.

So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots, and stood at the doorway of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.” But Naaman was furious and went away, and he said, “Behold, I thought, ‘He will certainly come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the site and cure the leprosy.’” – 2Kings 5:9-11. Elisha had opened the door for Naaman to come to him for healing. But in his pride, as a commander of the army of the king of Aram, Naaman was expecting a grand exhibition from Elisha and his God. Receiving directions from the prophet through a messenger did not impress him. After all, there were grander rivers in his home country he thought more appropriate. Fortunately for Naaman, a wise servant encouraged him to follow Elisha’s direction to wash in the Jordan seven times. As a result, “his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” (2Kings 5:14). It all seemed too simple, but simple it was. Similarly, Jesus has opened the door for us to be clean of the penalty of sin. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. - 2Corinthians 5:21. Jesus, through His virgin birth, sinless life and obedience to His Father to the point of death, even death on a cross, provided the perfect sacrifice once and for all to cleanse us of the penalty of sin and open the door to the Father. Accepting the gift of Jesus as your Savior may sound too simple. Be a Naaman! Make the effort this week to attend a Holy Thursday and/or a Good Friday service and experience the salvation Jesus offers in a new light. Embrace the simple by faith and be clean.

Tips to encourage your family to Be Clean:

• Read Luke 22 & 23 on your own across the week;
• Read the account of the Lord’s Supper, Luke 22:7-27, as a family;
• Read the account in the Garden of Gethsemane, Luke 22:39-53, as a family;
• Read Luke 23 together as a family with sensitivity for age-appropriateness; and,
• Discuss Jesus’ birth, life and death, and what it means to be clean.

Prayer guide: Father, thank You for Your word and Your Son. I confess I have complicated salvation with a works-based concept of something that had to be earned instead of a faith-based perspective on a gift that is to be accepted. The gift of a personal, passionate and growing relationship with You, by Your grace and for Your glory. Thank You Jesus for cleansing me from the penalty of sin. Help me encourage and equip my family to embrace the simple by faith and be clean. That is the dad You call me to be and that’s the dad my kids need to see. Amen.

A faithful father encourages and equips his family to be clean.