Going to the Mop Bucket

I recently rewatched Annie with my kids, the musical featuring Aileen Quinn as that cheeky little red-headed orphan that I fell in love with when I was little.

But something new struck me this time around, something profound about our relationship with the Lord as believers.

You see, in so many ways, we are like Annie.  Orphaned and estranged from our Father, lost and without hope in our sin.  And yet, somehow by His grace, love and mercy, He chooses us and rescues us to be a part of His family.

He chooses us, not based upon anything we do, say, think, or strive for...but inspite of all these things.

He chooses us and rescues us and takes us out of that miserable orphanage, under the reign of Mrs. Hannigan (err...death and sin) and brings us into His palatial mansion. (Of course, unlike the film, He Himself came to Earth and entered into our "dirty little orphanage"...instead of sending his secretary Grace to do such things that might be beneath Him or a waste of His precious time!)

And when Annie, all disheveled, enters into Oliver Warbuck's house (a house so large and grand that she mistakes it as a train station!), and is asked what the first thing she'd like to do is, she surveys the place with a sweeping glance and then heads straight for...

...the mop bucket.

You see, Annie assumed she has to wash the windows and the floors, and when Grace stops her and says she does not have to clean and do chores, Annie asks incredulously,

"Well, then...how am I supposed to earn my keep?"

Oh, dear friend, how often do we do this as the children of God?!!  How often do we simply forget the grace that has been freely given to us when we were adopted and entered into the family of God...and now feel as though we must earn our keep as His children by all of our works--praying, memorizing Scripture, giving to the poor, serving others, reading our Bibles, etc, etc, etc.

But we get the order of things all mixed up--God calls us into relationship with Him.  Like "Daddy" Warbucks, He does not want us to clean the windows...He would rather us join Him in the pool, or on a helicopter ride to see the President!

Now, do not misunderstand me--these works--these expressions of our faith will most certainly come--but not as a way to "earn our keep" like Annie presumed.  Instead, they will be an outflow of our relationship with God, as our Abba ("Daddy") Father, through His guidance and empowerment through the Holy Spirit.  So let us never head to the mop bucket as children of God, ready to do things to "earn our keep"--instead, let us dare to embrace the lavish and free grace of God and allow Him to empower us to do all of those things through a living and vibrant relationship with Him!