Spring Cleaning

Scripture Reading

Genesis 35:1-3, Exodus 19:10-12

Genesis 35:1-3

35 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”

2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3 Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.”

Exodus 19:10-12

10 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not approach the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain is to be put to death.

Devotional

I’m writing this devotional the day after Easter, which we associate with both the amazing resurrection of Jesus that gave everyone everlasting life and the season of Spring, which is also the season where things are brought back to life after the bite of winter. Another thing associated with Spring is Spring cleaning. The lovely time of year where people go through the items in their homes and try to clear out things they no longer want or use and make room for things that they do. In fact, today I just decided to splurge and have my home deep cleaned. That means every floor board, door frame, nook and cranny has been scrubbed and I have to admit, it feels like I’m living in a beautiful new home again. It actually stunned me that my house could look that good, but it took many hours to restore it to that state even though it was spot cleaned on a somewhat regular basis. I bring this up because our character and spiritual life is a lot like a house, a house for the Holy Spirit, which connects us to God.

Here in Genesis 35 and Exodus 19 we see two examples where people are asked to purify themselves and change their clothes in order to follow or dwell in the general vicinity of God. Remember, we’re in the Old Testament, so there is still full separation between God and his people. Now in these scriptures, purification and changing of their clothes were both to be taken literally and symbolically. The only way people could even get within range of God was to make themselves as clean as possible, but they still weren’t holy enough to dwell in the presence of the Lord except for those the Lord called and protected specifically. Ritual aside though, the symbolism of purification and changing of clothes, isn’t just to look nice for God, it’s to change one’s character. In other words, it’s the act of cleaning house of everything in you that is sinful and cluttering your mind and your life and making space for the things God wants in your life, Amen?

Right now, I’m looking around my house and I’m thinking… this is amazing, refreshing, and it just feels better. In fact, I didn’t fully realize perhaps how messy my house was until it was all tidied up. Sometimes I think that my life might be a lot like a house with a lot of countertop space and side tables. I’m going somewhere with this, so just bear with me. I don’t know what everyone else’s place looks like, so I’m just going to speak for myself. When I have extra space on a coffee table or nightstand, somehow, I can’t just keep it empty. It gradually becomes occupied with unopened mail, books, tablets, etc. Now this doesn’t happen overnight, it takes weeks. To me, unopened mail is a lot like sin because I really dislike mail yet I can’t stop it from coming in and also sin rarely gets out of control over night. It just slowly grows until it’s completely cluttered your life such that you longer have the time, energy, or space in your life to do the things God wants you to. So, today I ask… what is sitting on the countertops and tabletops of your life? Is it time for a Spring cleaning of your character and a renewal of your mind?

Fortunately, today we don’t have to worry about being fully separated from God, the Holy Spirit will dwell in us in spite of our sin because we have been purified by the blood of Jesus. However, sin can corrupt our minds, distract us from God, and lead us astray. It prevents us seeing and hearing God and it prevents us from doing his will, so while our salvation is not at stake, our ability to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives is. With that in mind, I want to encourage you to examine your life and see what clutter you may need to get rid of to shift your focus back on God. It may be time to clear off some counterspace or schedule a deep cleaning. Let’s pray.

Prayer

Father God, thank you for your sacrifice that allows us to be in connection with each other through the Holy Spirit. Lord, I know that I have sin in my life that I need to rid of. Help me to discern what I need to hold on to and what to let go of for the sake of your kingdom and thank you for already forgiving my transgressions in advance. I pray that I will keep my physical and metaphorical countertops clean and open for the things you wish to place on them. In Jesus’ name, Amen.