My daughter is a big fan of homemade mac and cheese. Well, she’s a fan of any kind of pasta, but mac and cheese is her absolute favorite.

Ever since she was young, she’s known how to boil the noodles and mix up the ingredients just like her father taught her (using hot pasta water—NOT milk—and mixing it together over the warm stove so the cheese doesn’t become stringy). 

But then, she tends to throw the pot to the side of the sink and let it sit … and sit—without bothering to wash it—figuring that eventually Mom will get it. The problem with that is that the longer it sits, the more it becomes like cement and is just about impossible to clean. The longer it sits—the more the washing gets delayed—the grosser it becomes.

Kind of like sin, right?

How often do we set our messes to the side, too impatient to deal with the fallout because we want to enjoy life. Then when we finally get around to acknowledging our slipups, they’ve become a disgusting mess that’s almost impossible to clean up.

However, if we would address our sin to begin with … if we would just own up to it and take responsibility … it might not be pleasant, but it would be better for our spiritual health and our relationship with our loving God who always forgives.

“Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin” (Psalm 51:2).