Surface Cleaning

The counters get wiped down. The dishes get washed. The floors get swept. The laundry basket is emptied. Vaccuming is done. The duster wipes across the furniture. The table gets wiped down. Surface cleaning. That's my speciality.


Yesterday I found one steel wool pad in the back of my cupboard. I decided it needed to be used. I started to scrub around my sink and in the corners. The dirt and the grime seemed to suddenly jump out at me. Where had it been hiding? Why did I not see it before? Did I know it was there, but decided to ignore it or take care of it another time...in the future? Surface cleaning is easy. It is easy to ignore the corners and hidden places. I cleaned a little section...but there was so much more...it began to stand out...not just the corner now, but it expanded in to other areas as well.


After I do my devotions in the morning, I hop in the shower, dry my hair and put on makeup. I put on my clothes, throw on a scarf and add some jewerly. I am all put together...presentable...the outside looks ready to go. I am surface clean.


What happens when I take the time to look in to the corners of my heart...in to the hidden places. Jewerly doesn't cover it up. Makeup doesn't clean it up. A matching outfit doesn't take it away. The dirt is there. The grime is seeping out of the corners of my heart. I need to take a steel wool pad to the places in my life that are dirty...that have been ignored. Some days I walk in selfishness...the focus on me...not of God. Some days I don't stick to my budget or snap at my kids. Some times I gossip or am jealous. Every once in a while...more often than I'd like to admit...I live in shame still. I walk in shame still. I make decisions based on that shame.


When I focus on the dirt...the places that need cleaning...it seems so overwhelming. It seems like more than I can take...I can't get it all. I begin to panic and wonder who can see it now...now that I see it...I am sure it is what everyone else sees. Can I throw on a scarf and cover it up?


Yesterday I cleaned one section of my stove....one burner....and the steel wool pad wore down. I only had the one...so I had to stop. I showed my kids how clean it was...and they could see the difference. I told them I would do one burner a day...one area of the kitchen. I chose one cupboard or one shelf to clean out and dispose of things each day. One thing at a time. I emptied off the shelf. I put only what was needed back up.


I am diving in to the deep corners....one at a time....one section...one area at a time. That seems more managable.


My heart needs cleaning. But there is so much to clean....I ignore it. I put it off until another day.


But God says "You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you." Joshua 7:13 NLT.


So I know that God is calling me to "remove these things" so that the enemy can't come in and defeat my heart...my spirit...the plans God has for me.

I am ready to keep cleaning...to not just surface clean but to really deep clean. I want to
desperately serve the Lord in all that I do...desperately...serve.

And who can clean my heart? Who can cleanse me? Only the blood of Jesus. Only seeking after Jesus. Only by keeping my eyes on Jesus. Only by diving in to the Word and letting the Truth dwell in my heart.

Does your heart need some cleaning?

Seek Jesus. Open up the Word and He will meet you there.

Blessings, Teresa