Cleanliness is next to...

Godliness…so, I’ve heard!

I spent the past weekend moving and cleaning!

And to be honest, I spent more time on the latter!

If you know me, you know I like things neat…orderly…and clean!

As I previously mentioned, this home has been neglected…and by the looks of my cleaning rags…has not been thoroughly cleaned in quite some time!

I would have preferred to clean the whole house…top to bottom…before moving in!

But our closing date was moved up since my husband was heading out of town…so I just had to roll with moving/cleaning simultaneously!!

Another little snippet about myself…I will tackle projects and keep going until that particular project is completed!

For example…my husband woke up around 2:00 a.m. and found me on my hands and knees…mopping the tile floor! 

Knowing me quite well, my husband knew I wouldn’t stop until I had completed that particular task!

He saw the determined look in my eyes and knew it was pointless to discuss it further with me…so chose to chat with me until I finished mopping the floor!

I spent several long days/evenings tackling numerous projects…only stopping when each project was completed!

After finishing the inside, I decided to tackle a few projects on the outside after my husband headed out of town!

One of those projects included cleaning out the shed!

The outward appearance of the shed was deceiving!  It looked fairly clean and in good condition.

However, upon opening the door, I found the shed filled with lawn chairs…pool chemicals…and lots of dirt, leaves, cobwebs…mice droppings and dead mice all over the floor!

My first instinct was to shut the door and leave this project for Don!

However, I decided to proceed with tackling this daunting task!

I pulled out the lawn chairs…scrubbed them with bleach and water and decided we could use some of them this summer!

I pulled out pool chemicals…trying to determine if they were still good! 

Never having a pool before…I saved the ones that looked ok…and tossed the others that looked like they were no longer usable!

I swept the shelves…and all of the droppings that littered them!

I tentatively climbed the ladder leading to the loft!

My biggest fear was that I would find something larger than a mouse up there that had not survived the long winter!

As I sheepishly peeked over the top, a sigh of relief escaped me when I saw that it was only covered with dirt and mice droppings as well!

As I surveyed this shed…filled with dirt, leaves, cobwebs, mouse droppings and dead mice…I thought of how the outward appearance of the shed was misleading.

As I mentioned, the outside was fairly clean…orderly…leading you to assume that the inside would look just as nice!

Not true!

And then I thought…aren’t we like that as well!

Sometimes what is inside us doesn’t match our outward appearance!

We can look picture-perfect on the outside, but if you peered inside our lives…if you would like into our hearts...you would see the filth that we have let penetrate our insides!

It’s messy!

It’s yucky!

And if we are completely honest…it is downright disgusting and probably looks a lot worse than the dirty shed!

Matthew 23:26 says…First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

Often, we are more concerned about our outward appearance, making sure what others see is clean…nice-looking…leading others to believe that everything going on in our lives is perfect!

Unfortunately, we are often less concerned with what is going on the inside.

But God is telling us to focus on what’s inside us first!

And only God can make us truly clean!

If you haven’t done so…I encourage you to invite Jesus into your life…into your heart…allowing him to remove the sin in your life!

And when we invite Jesus into our hearts…He will take away the filth...all the yucky stuff that we have let build up inside us…and make our hearts as white as snow!

Having a pure heart…a good attitude…will be reflected in our outward appearance as well…making sure that both our inside and outside are equally clean!

I finished cleaning the shed…leaving it nice and tidy.

But I know that as dirt, leaves, and other filth blow back into the shed in the days ahead, I will have to sweep it again…making sure that it stays neat and orderly!

And I also know that as I allow sin…anything that is not pleasing to God to come into my life…I will have to confess it as sin…asking God to sweep my heart clean again!

Though I like everything around me to be neat and tidy…as scripture tells us…it is more important for me to focus on what’s inside…making sure that I keep it neat and clean!

Dear Heavenly Father…as I think about how disgusted I was with the appearance of the inside of our shed…I have to think…that sometimes you are quiet disheartened with what you see going inside of us!  Oh Lord…help us to focus on keeping our inside clean…so that we may always bring glory and honor to your name!!