Spring Cleaning

Create in me a clean heart, O God;
and renew a right spirit within me.

Psalms 51:10

      A popular method of cleaning house is to start with the areas people see first when entering your home. So I begin at the porch and then the entry way; moving from one room to the next. I usually leave the unseen areas like the closets and cupboards for the very last; many times not getting to them regularly at all. They are the places I cram and squeeze every item that doesn’t have a place of its own. It’s where I put the things I don’t necessarily want visitors to see; the unsightly things.

      It occurred to me today, as I was thinking about this (while cleaning of course) that God cleans house (spiritually) the opposite of this method. He isn’t as concerned about the areas people can see, He goes straight for the things hidden in the closet! He throws the door wide open and exposes them all, discards many into the trash, and puts the rest in order.

      I remember in one of Kay Arthur’s bible studies, she referred to a time when she had a group of ladies over and said to them, “Open the drawers- look around, this is who I am. What you see is what you get!” What I believe she was saying was, “I have nothing hidden in my life that I have not asked God to put in order.” Now that’s the way to live!

      I hope I will be brave enough to open the drawers of my life fully to Him and accept His order. As I finish cleaning my house, I pray that God will be at work with His spring cleaning in my heart; getting rid of the things I’ve hidden in the closets.