“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from sin.”   – Psalm 51:1

 

I think it’s time for a little spring cleaning. Even though my wife and I have only lived in this community for four months, there are still rooms that need organization and dark corners that need sweeping.  Anticipating our new son’s arrival in June, we’ve also begun the nesting process – making room for cribs and changing tables and pack-n-plays.

 

Perhaps our lives would also benefit from a spring cleaning. King David wrote the words to the psalm above after realizing the depth of his sin in committing adultery with Bathsheba.  And, though most of us haven’t committed adultery lately, truth is, we all have sin in our lives. But God is the Almighty Cleanser. Bleach water, 409, and Scrubbing Bubbles have nothing on God, for our God is not merely interested in surface cleaning. If we let him, God will cleanse us from the inside out.

 

And, just as our homes, once clean, will begin to get dirty again over the course of time, so we ourselves are in continual need of God’s cleansing power. First John 1:5 tells us that “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” And, as you and I draw closer to the light, we begin to see the darkness that still lingers in the corners of our lives. Just when we seem to conquer one area of sin or temptation, another one arises.

 

Yet, the Holy Spirit gives us the strength and power to say “no” to sin and selfishness and “yes” to God.  First John 1 continues, “If we walk in the light, as God is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

 

As we begin the process of spring cleaning, we need to use Bibles in addition to brooms and buckets. We need to spend time on our knees, and not just to scrub the kitchen floor.