Clean House

My house is mostly clean….sometimes.

We had friends visit a couple of weeks ago, and boy was I excited. They are such great friends that they would not care if every toy was picked up and every toilet scrubbed to glistening sparkle. True friends – you know?

Nevertheless, I wanted their visit to be perfect. So I set about cleaning. I have found that regardless of who visits, I do this every time. Some advantages come with the cleaning, like I might actually dust everything all at the same time and my kitchen counter becomes visible everywhere – even that spot where everything gets piled. The advantages are there.

But then I ask myself why I don’t keep my house that clean all of the time? Why does it take someone coming to visit for me to do something about those little things?

If someone happens to drop by, my house would not look like something exploded, but the little pile on the counter and the crevasses collecting dirt would be there. I don’t notice them so much until someone comes to stay.

Isn’t that how it works with Jesus? My “house” seems pretty neat and tidy when I just have little, passing through encounters with Jesus. But when I sit and dwell with Him for a while, I notice those little things a whole lot more. My house needs a good scrub.

Advantages come with this scrubbing as well. The peace that comes when it is all sparkling clean again and the rest we find – well, it just can’t be replaced. What a wonderful feeling when we know we have nothing to hide no matter who shows up. It has all been scrubbed clean by Jesus just moments before.

Our friends visited and left our home cleaner than they found it – they leave us better having spent time with them as well. But Jesus has used them to once again teach us a lesson. I do a lot of nice things sometimes, but what I need to do most is sit a while with Jesus and let Him scrub me up again. Thankfully He is willing to do this moment by moment and then I have rest and peace – no matter who or what shows up.