Spring Cleaning

Suddenly the weather is improving and lots of us notice the dust and cobwebs that have accumulated in the house. It’s that time for spring cleaning again (maybe a little late this year!) It might not be your favourite activity, but if we neglect our homes, in the course of time it will become obvious. Dust and dirt mounts up.

And don’t do a half-hearted job. If you sweep the dust under the rug eventually someone will trip over it.

It’s the same with home maintenance; if you never do any, your home will take on that neglected look which is never attractive. About a year ago, we were looking for our present home. It was interesting to see how other people keep and maintain their homes. ‘Couldn’t live there – nasty smell!’ ‘Too much work to make it liveable.’ These are some of things we have said to one another after viewing a property. Do you enjoy watching programmes like Homes Under the Hammer where the buyers start with a completely rundown house and after a lot of hard work end up with something fantastic?

All these things are applicable to our spiritual lives as well. If we neglect to read the Bible, pray and keep ourselves open to God, we will find the ‘dust’ starts to collect in the corners of our souls. Spend some time taking a good long look at yourself in the light of Galatians 5 and see what you find. Is there more ‘discord’ and ‘selfish ambition’ or ‘patience’ and ‘gentleness’?

There are times when we need to have a spiritual spring clean and invite the Holy Spirit to show us where the ‘dust has been swept under the carpet’, and cobwebs have multiplied, so that we must come to God in repentance and faith for his cleansing and renewing. Here’s some advice from Jude about spiritual ‘spring cleaning’: ‘But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.’

Brenda Critchley

NEWBOLD BAPTIST CHURCH