Cleaning Up

I made a cake tonight (pumpkin spice, in honor of fall and its gloriousness); I placed my mixing bowl on the counter after I had put the batter into the dish and I thought to myself,"I need to rinse that out before it gets hard and really stuck on and takes forever to scrub off."  I started to think how it's so much easier to clean the batter out of the bowl before it has a chance to dry and practically become part of the bowl.  It just rinses right out, with almost no effort.  The times when I have just set it aside for later, because I'm in a hurry or because someone needs me for some reason or because I'm being lazy, the traces of batter that are left harden, and then require a little more strength to scrub out.  This made me think of my sin, those things I do that displease my heavenly Father.  Or dishonor him.  Or sadden him.  But if I realize quickly where I've gone wrong, or the mistake that I made, or even what I've not done that I ought, and tell him I'm sorry, his cleansing comes right away.  His forgiveness washes over me, taking away the raw, unwanted garbage.  But it is also true, for me, that if I don't "come clean" right away, then those things that I have done or not done hang on, and harden, and cling just like that batter.  They are stuck and feel like a part of me that will never go away.  Sometimes they are around for so long that a habit develops, or a mindset, or a perspective.  Miracle of miracles, there can always be cleansing.  But it can seem like it takes a little longer to get rid of the mess, it's harder to scrub out, and clings more stubbornly making it harder to remove.  Looking at that messy bowl just reminded me that "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."  (1 John 1:9)  "Batter" to confess sooner rather than later, don't you think?  God is so good.