Spring Cleaning

It's spring -- time for a good old-fashioned spring cleaning.  What is it about spring that had our mothers and grandmothers giving every part of the house a good cleaning at some point each spring?  Was it the longer hours of bright sunshine that showed up dust and dirt in corners of the house?  If you are interested in doing a thorough spring clean you can go online and get a helpful checklist at:

  https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6dBVgGuoJnRRkg0NFVNQzRuSjQ/edit

This particular list only has 109 things to do!!! Just reading the list makes me tired! 

However, there is something about cleaning and freshening things that brings joy and hope.  Our souls need that kind of cleaning as much as our environment.  God wants to show us the dust and grime in our lives and give us an opportunity to be freshened up with his forgiveness and healing.  When we surrender to God’s love and truth, old ways of living can be put away and all things can become new.

Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. (Hebrews 10:22-23 NLT)

When we spring clean we pull out the stove and fridge and sometimes find all kinds of dirt that needs to be removed. Even though we cleaned the parts we could see throughout the year, things happened, food got spilled, a fork fell through the cracks, grease got spilled which trapped dust and fluff.  Where did all that mess come from that we can see now that the appliance is pulled away from the wall?

In the same way, God wants to show us what we've been missing in our lives and what needs to be cleaned up.  He's not condemning us.  He's simply revealing things we were not able to see on our own. 

How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults.   (Psalm 19:12 NLT) 

Let's take a few moments during these lovely spring days and give God time to help us do a thorough spring cleaning job of our hearts.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. (Psalm 139:23-24 NLT)

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