A Clean Sweep

Jesus, cleanse, heart, hidden, lifeIt was a floor I swept regularly. On this particular day I decided to move a small piece of furniture to get to an often neglected area. What I found there surprised me.

A grasshopper must have come in when the door was open. It became trapped and now I was sweeping up its remains.

A shudder ran through me as I related this incident to my life.

When I leave the door open for undesirable things to enter my life, they often come in unnoticed. These little things can hide in the corners of my heart and slowly accumulate. I may think they are not impacting me but sooner or later they become evident. My thoughts and attitude start to reflect the garbage that has been piling up inside of me.

Things may not look that bad on the surface but until I remove any barriers and do a clean sweep, there will still be garbage lurking there. These barriers are of my own making.

What I need to do is confess and bring into the open what I think I’ve been hiding. Jesus sees it all along and is just waiting for me to bring it to him. Once I do, he will do a complete cleanse of my heart. Then I no longer need worry about what may be discovered in those hidden corners.

Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”? (Proverbs 20:9 NIV)

God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong. (1 John 1:9 GWT)

Walking in Syrup

sticky-deckWe arrived at our campsite to see sheen on the deck that proved to be extremely sticky. There were also some dark spots where the stickiness had accumulated. It felt like we were walking through syrup as we headed to the door of our trailer.

The deck was scrubbed as well as the table and chairs. We

positioned our chairs so we could sit and enjoy the sun. Soon I felt a drop hit my arm. I looked into a cloudless sky and realized that it wasn’t rain I was feeling. Thinking it must be my imagination I turned the page and continued reading. Soon I felt more drops but couldn’t see anything on my skin.

Then I noticed the table had sticky spots again. The only answer was that the drops I felt were coming from the trees at the end of the deck. Although I couldn’t see them falling, the cumulative effect sticky-treeswas an unpleasant stickiness that clung to everything they touched. Before long our sandals stuck to the deck again.

This situation reminded me of my life. It is easy to let bad habits or negative thoughts slowly creep up on me. They start out as minor annoyances that I can ignore. Before long these behaviours add up to create a sticky mess in my life. I long for the freedom and peace of mind I once felt.

The way to restore my freedom is to bring everything before Jesus. When I pray, confess my sins and ask for forgiveness He is willing to scrub my heart and make it clean again. When I follow his plan for my life my steps will be much easier to take.

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. (Galatians 5:13 NLT)

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