"Wake up. Wake up", he said.

I rubbed the crust off my eyes and sat up. He stood, smiling at me, beckoning on me to grab onto him with his outstretched hand.

"Who are you?", I asked, though I knew the answer already.

"Get up. We have work to do".

I tried to stand up, but then something struck my mind. Why did he come now that my room was dirty? I looked around at the mess that was all over the floor. Books in disarray, empty bottles from parties three weeks ago, sour food and bread crumbs, sweaty shirts and smelly socks. He was supposed to have waited, waited till I had cleaned this room up; till I was ready to welcome him. But there he was, standing beside my bed.

" Sir, you came in too early. I need some time to get myself together", I argued

"Get up, boy. Time is ticking", he said calmly.

" But sir, I'm not ready for you. You would have to come back", I said persisting.

"I'm already here. I have seen the filth and I'm still here", he replied looking straight into my eyes.

" Sir, the neighbors would say I'm not befitting of you. They would call me a hypocrite. I'm not as clean as the rest of your children".

"I love you and I came to visit you. Is that not enough?", he asked, each word piercing my heart.

" It is but... "

"Should I leave?", he asked softly.

His question stopped me dead in my excuses. For once I stared at him intensely and then I saw his hands. On them were two scars, one on each palm. But it was what he held in those hands that struck me.

In his right hand was a broom. He had come not just to visit, but to help me clean. To help me clean up the very things that keep me away from me. I thought he would shout at me for being so filthy, but that was not the case. He was here to help me clean.

On his left hand was a mop. Every stain on the floor of my room, he came to wipe away himself. Every time I spilled my food, or my drink. All the days I was too busy to clean up, he came to do it for me.

So, maybe you think you have to clean yourself up and become holy, before Jesus would accept you. That is a lie. The only way you can let go of a sinful life is by His help.

Come to Him today. He's standing by your bedside, with a broom, saying to you,

" Get up. We have work to do".