Clean House and Clean Heart
Day 18 of Photo Inspirations — This is my squeaky clean house! I’m pretty good at keeping a clean and tidy home, but I’m still grateful that once a month I have a sweet gal that comes and gives my home a thorough cleaning — top to bottom — blinds, baseboards, windows — you know the things we typically avoid until we HAVE to get it done. It was especially wonderful to have her here — the day after I took down all my Christmas decorations! Whew — over a month of dust underneath all of it — shedding of garland everywhere, etc.
As meticulous as my cleaning lady is, however, when she’s gone….I’ll usually find a little area she missed — maybe a a few dustballs she overlooked — no big deal, but it represents something that keeps my home from being squeaky clean.
The scripture “Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me”, comes to mind, especially when I realize there are some less than squeaky clean areas in my heart that need a “house-cleaning”. Maybe it’s the difficult people that I’d prefer to avoid or the ones who have the incessantly determined barking dog next door, or the grumpy and cranky ones. Those folks represent the little “dust balls” in my heart and I realized this morning — it’s time to sweep clean those areas of my heart.
Sweeping clean means to center on Jesus’ example. He certainly dealt with many difficult people during His time here on earth. His attitude about them was expressed best in His Sermon on the Mount. He was quite specific: “I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:27-31).
That kind of love is much more than heart “cleaning”. It’s heart transformation, because my present attitude toward the hard-to-love people around me is keeping me from being the LIGHT to my world. I realize that it’s not a monthly cleaning that my heart needs, it’s a minute-by-minute with the One who is consistently kind even to the ungrateful. When we bring His EXPERT Cleaning Services into our hearts — we’ll start to take on His character and we’ll love the way He loves and our hearts will become SQUEAKY CLEAN!
#CleanHouse #CleanHeart