Spring Cleaning
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”
Psalm 51:12 (NIV)
It is springtime and that means time for spring cleaning in our house! I love to clean, decorate, rearrange to make things feel fresh and new. We keep things fairly clean and organized at our home, but I love to clean the baseboards, sweep behind the furniture, and reorganize the cabinets. Many times that includes a few items given to friends, a trip to Goodwill, and maybe some extra trash! It is an effort and takes time, but the outcome is so refreshing and feels so good.
As I was working through this process recently it made me think of my life with Jesus. I realized I needed to do a spring cleaning with Him. Some of the things I do are just because I have done them before and my heart is not engaged. Cleaning the baseboards equals confessing sins-some things I do because “that’s the way I am”. Some things I have let slide because my family still loves me, and I have not had the urgency to repent. In my case, it usually equals the way I speak or respond. Then, I listened to the Fruit of the Spirit song with my grandson and was hit smack in the face about how I did not align with patience and kindness as often as I wanted to believe I did. Spring cleaning exposes what we cannot see every day.
Sweeping behind the furniture includes moving things around in my life that may feel uncomfortable, but it also means following Him in obedience. Recently I was invited to a retreat, and I resisted going. I knew God wanted me to go, but I kept putting it off and making excuses. Finally, I used my husband as my litmus test, full well knowing he would never want me to be gone for a night. As my final act of avoidance, I asked him his thoughts about me going, He thought it would be a great idea! Doggone it, now I had to go. You know what? God used that experience in so many ways: through new friendships, by making Himself so real to me, and encouraging me. I did not want to move that furniture around, but it was worth it.
Reorganizing the cabinets may mean I change up my Bible reading habits or do my own prayer walk. It is not that I get rid of what I have, but I may need to rearrange to keep my relationship with Jesus fresh. I can so easily fool myself by checking a box that reads devotions but not spending time and listening to the One who is most important. For me this has included praying out loud as I walk through my house, listening to Psalms and Proverbs as I drive instead of music, and watching the Bible Project before I read through the next book of the Bible. These may seem like little changes, but moving things around has helped me engage with Jesus a little bit differently.
Just as spring cleaning makes a room feel brand new, some spring cleaning with Jesus can remind you of when you first met Him and how today is brand new with Him!