We often enter into other's lives thinking that their lives look that way all the time. Just in writing that sentence you can see that it's untrue. We know in the depths of our hearts that everyone has on and off days. Sometimes the kitchen is clean and sometimes it's not. That's just the way it is. Regardless, the kitchen, clean or not, is still a kitchen. You can cook on a dirty stove, store food in a disorganized refrigerator, and have hampers full of dirty clothes at any time and on any day. Right after time off or vacation our homes and lives seem to be the most disorganized, dirty and out of sorts. Of all the cleaning I dislike (I dislike cleaning in general), the bathroom ranks the highest on the gross scale. Please keep in mind that the external isn't necessarily a presentation of the internal. I may be in a clean and organized home and yet find an unorganized life.
For the Christian, cleaning house entails many steps. Standing by and doing nothing is not one of them. We have a helper, the Holy Spirit, who helps us in the cleaning and organizing of our lives. Should we be dependent upon ourselves the work will not be thorough nor complete. Like cleaning the bathroom there are areas of our lives where we don't want to go. We don't want to clean out that sin we enjoy. We think no one notices but we do and so does God. Gods a gentleman though and doesn't go where we won't let him. He may allow circumstances to unfold where we are faced with the decision to clean up that area of life. But, he never forces his will upon us. Allowing the Holy Spirit the freedom to "roam" our internal home and clean is necessary but at the same time unwelcome. It's kind of like cleaning the house for visiting family. They are family! They know what your house looks like and don't usually care. Certainly most of our families are not in our lives to clean house anyway.
About a year ago we sold our home and moved to a new home. The selling of the old home required deep cleaning, repainting, and minor work on various things. The garage is indicative of the clutter in our lives. Why we keep so much stuff we will never use is a question no one wants the answer to. Until we moved I didn't realize how much junk we had that I previously couldn't live without. When we sold and moved the deep cleaning of the new house (which was already clean) took place. So, the house cleaned, we moved in. A year later the garage is still full of boxes of priceless possessions we will most likely have little use for. Yet, we aren't ready to let them go. It's the same with what the Holy Spirit finds when he checks behind the closed door of the various rooms in our house. Re-arranging junk renders it re-arranged and still junk.
Then there are the complications. My idea of clean versus my wife's idea of clean versus our families idea of clean. Her family have a long history of good external cleaners. Mine doesn't. Her family has a garage that has never seen a car parked in it. Mine too. My family thought our home was comfortable and unpretentious; welcoming to anyone who might drop by. Better call first if it's her family home. When someone looks into my life they can see some of what I see and more of what I can't see. It's that way with the Holy Spirit as well. Sometimes allowing him to clean house is like letting your mother-in-law re-arrange your kitchen (actually happened to me twice). We go back and put everything back where we are comfortable.
Yes, I did clean my house last week just as I do every week. Dishes are done, laundry put away, dusting completed, floors cleaned and so many other items addressed. THEN, we had a party! Yep, no longer clean. You missed it. Christians should be more concerned about what they do with their lives instead of how they present their lives. Have a party! Spreading the Gospel and seeing people saved is way more important than cleaning the microwave. Balance is demanded between all areas of our lives. Foremost is our releasing the house to Jesus in the first place. Let him make the balance. Let him do what work he wants to do and be okay with it. God will never do you harm when you let him clean your house...even if it doesn't look like it next week.
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