Dirty Floors
Author Unknown  

There's a lot of dirt in the world, and a lot of people who tracked it onto the floor of my heart.

Some feet left behind the sands of rejection;

Some feet stomped in and left muddy tracks of fear;

Some feet smeared the floor with shame.

They all left dusty confusion and dirty lies.

I tried a lot of different ways to get the filthy floor clean.

And I had to keep people outside, lest they realize what a dreadful person I was, for getting so much dirt on the floor of my heart.

Then when I had given up on ever getting it clean, When I thought I would have to keep the door locked forever; I met a man,

HE said He could clean up every kind of dirt. But I had to let HIM in.

HE had to do the work, I had to show HIM the dirt and the mess that I showed NO ONE.

That scared me. But there was a gentleness and compassion in HIS eyes That I had never seen before.

And I wanted to believe what HE said, even though I could not understand.

How could HE possibly do what I had tried so hard to do, And so miserably failed.

So, ashamed of the mess, Afraid to get my hopes up again, trying to guard against one more disappointment, One more rejection.

I reluctantly let HIM in, into the depths of my heart.

HE came in as though HE knew exactly where to go.

HE scanned the decorations on the walls.  HE glanced at the polished furniture.

HE noted the scrubbed woodwork. and HE gazed intently at all the dirt on the floor of my heart.

But, HE didn't turn away in disgust.

HE didn't laugh.

HE didn't scold me.

HE looked, and HIS eyes turned sad.

HE saw all the tracks that the world had left.

HE saw the kicks and the stomps and the scars, from the people that had never bothered to wipe their feet at anyone's door.

HE saw the places I had tried so hard to clean, there on the floor of my heart.

HE had in HIS hand a broom.

A sturdy broom, made for serious cleaning.

HE called the broom "TRUTH"

HE worked patiently and painstakingly, taking HIS time.

When HE was finished, the floor was smooth,  But it was a very dull and barren floor.

It looked like all the feet and accumulated dirt had scuffed the surface beyond repair; 

And no matter how clean it was, The floor of my heart would always be a very ugly floor.

HE laid the broom aside and knelt down.

HE ran HIS hand over the surface, feeling the dirt still ground into the scars.

Tears began to fall from HIS eyes, As HE grieved for what the world had done.

HE sat for a long time weeping;

Feeling the scornful scuffs and stomping demands, Listening for gentle footsteps that never came.

And as HE wept tears of love and compassion, The tears formed a little pool beside HIM, and began to seep down into the scuff marks

Silently dissolving the ground-in dirt.

And in the center of the pool, there began to show a little color.

JESUS saw the color and began to smile, and as HE smiled, HIS face gave off light, And in the light, the color began to shimmer.

JESUS threw back HIS head and shouted with delight, 

Because the floor of my heart, swept clean by the sturdy broom of TRUTH, 

Washed with HIS tears,  It was not hopelessly marred at all.

You see, JESUS saw that the floor of my heart had been laid by HIS very own FATHER. 

and when HIS FATHER lays a foundation,

He uses pure gold.

I pray that you too will let JESUS into the depths of your heart,

Let HIM sweep it clean with the broom of TRUTH

Let HIM wash the deepest of sins and hurt away with HIS tears of love.

And you will discover that HIS FATHER has laid in you a foundation that the world cannot destroy.

For GOD HIMSELF has created YOU

A person of great worth.