Cheer

by Joey Davis

If my wife wanted to hide an incriminating document from me, the perfect place to hide it would be the laundry basket. I rarely venture anywhere near there, and she knows it!

I learned to do laundry the hard way. . . I ran out of clean clothes during my first quarter of college. Truth is, I didn't run out of clean clothes; I ran out of clothes that didn't reek. Therefore, I was forced to find a Laundromat.

In the Laundromat, I learned things that were just as educational as any other aspect of my college experience. I learned that yellow and blue actually do make green. . . a fact my kindergarten teacher had attempted to explain to me many years earlier. I learned that white underwear can take on a non-masculine appearance when washed with a red sportshirt . . . and that there is no acceptable excuse for a man to own pink drawers. I learned that a full capacity washing machine in fact did not mean "full capacity" . . . a fact discovered after standing in the drum and packing down my clothes in order to save the fifty cents it would have taken to wash another load. I learned that though women wouldn't, men will wear their "fruit of the looms" as long as there is still one shred of elastic remaining.

My cousin Olan also taught me that detergent is an impressive substance. While waiting for my clothes to tumble to a dizzy dryness, we read the Cheer box.

A box of Cheer contains ingredients to lift dirt from clothes, soften water, protect washing machine parts, reduce wrinkling; and prevent yellowing. Add to this list the fact that it contains whiteners, colorant, and perfume, all for less than a dime an ounce, it is truly a miracle in a box!

You know, we as humans have made great progress over the years in the area of hygiene. God took care of the Israelites by giving them laws concerning how to take care of filth (see Leviticus). There was a time when we thought disease was an act of God. Then we came to realize that it was sometimes a product of human ignorance. We've been cleaning our act up ever since.

But why haven't the scientists come up with a concoction to clean our hearts and minds as efficiently as they clean our clothes? Where is my box of "Fix-it Frizzle" that lifts dirt from our lives, softens our hearts, cleanses our minds, protects our inner parts, reduces spiritual yellowing and wrinkling, and makes us sweet and good?

They didn't need to! This ingredient was created long before Cheer. All of the above is accomplished by the blood of Jesus.

By the way, don't try Cheer. . . it tastes awful!