Today’s household object is the vacuum cleaner and the Bible passage is Luke 10:38-42, a passage that always resonates with me as I see the choices made by sisters Martha and Mary and realise the importance of spiritual priorities in a busy world full of things to do.

Keeping a house neat and tidy is something that some people really enjoy, but which most of us find quite tedious, no matter what labour-saving devices have been invented to help us. The vacuum cleaner is one such device, but no matter how many ‘aids’ we have, we still feel the pressure of juggling work outside the house, work inside the house , cooking, looking after family members and God! We have sympathy with the flustered Martha who is busy trying to cook and keep her guests happy whilst her sister simply sits at the feet of Jesus, and often find it hard to juggle our busy schedules, resenting those who tell us that prayer and Bible study are important.

Jesus made it clear that spiritual priorities have to be at the top of the list, however, and it really is a case of learning to prioritise. It’s also clear from the Bible that there is no spiritual/ secular divide in the way we often perceive it. The hymn ‘Teach me, my God and King’ by George Herbert makes this plain:

‘Teach me, my God and King,

In all things Thee to see,

And do what I do in anything

To do it as for Thee.’

Even our ‘mundane’ service using the vacuum cleaner can be an offering to God – and certainly, such devices make our lives a lot easier than our forefathers’!

Today’s household object is the washing machine and our Bible passage is Exodus 19:9-14.

In Moses’ time, clothes-washing was a symbol of cleanliness and of marking a special occasion. Moses tells the people to wash their clothes in preparation for the third day, so that when the Lord comes down the mountain, they will be ready with clean garments. In Revelation 7:14 we are told that those who have come out of the tribulation have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The paradox of blood making something clean reminds us of the paradox of the gospel.

Nowadays, washing clothes is much easier than it used to be because of the washing-machine, but the idea of washing reminds us firstly of dirt (and sin) and reminds us that it is through Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross and subsequent rising on the third day that we are made clean. We need reminders throughout our lives that cleansing is not only necessary but has now been made possible.

Today’s household object may not be present for everyone, since it depends on a person’s vision! The object is spectacles (glasses) and the Bible passage is 2 Peter 1:5-11.

In this passage, Peter urges us to add to our faith goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection and love. Possessing these qualities, he says, will keep us from being ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of Jesus; without these qualities, we are nearsighted and blind, forgetting that we have been cleansed from our past sins.

To be nearsighted is to struggle to see what is right under our noses, and is something that usually happens as we get older. Even people who have had perfect vision when younger may struggle with near-sightedness as they get older, needing ‘reading glasses’ in later life. I have been short-sighted most of my life, struggling to see objects at a distance, and so have needed glasses since the age of five. Whatever our visual problem, spiritually we often fail to see what God is doing in our lives and in our world. We tend to focus on what we can see naturally, failing to understand that He calls us to live by faith and not by sight. (2 Cor 5:7)

Peter reminds us that character is more important than possessions and that to live without a constant awareness of what God has done for us in Christ Jesus will render us unproductive in spiritual matters. We need the daily reminder of God’s love from His word and to spend time with Him reminding ourselves of what really matters if we are to be fruitful and productive for God.

Today’s household object is the toothbrush and our passage is Exodus 21:23-27, with reference also to Matthew 5:38-41.

Brushing our teeth is a daily habit which helps to remove plaque from teeth and keeps them healthy. It’s something we teach our children to do from a young age, and becomes part of our daily cleansing rituals. A failure to do so can result in teeth falling out and can affect our eating, speaking and appearance. A failure to engage in this daily dental ritual can bring judgment in the form of real, inconvenient and painful consequences.

We are advised to spend two minutes brushing our teeth in order to ensure it is effective. Two minutes is not a long time, but can seem quite long when you have an excessively strong gag reflex as I do! We often find it hard to concentrate in prayer, which is why perhaps we need to embed prayer as strongly into our daily routines as we do washing and brushing our teeth. God’s word is given to guide us and help us; we need to heed its warnings and instructions (and not simply search for its promises!) so that we can live long and fruitful lives.