Dirty Corners

1 Peter 2:1-3 – So clean house! Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy and hurtful talk. You've had a taste of God. Now, like infants at the breast, drink deep of God's pure kindness. Then you will grow up mature and whole in God. (MSG)

The Christmas season seems to call out all the cleaning products we haven't used in months. We wash knick-knacks, scrub under counter edges, and clean out bathroom vanities. We scrub corners that we have never seen, terrified that a stern mother-in-law or auntie might check them out.

Non-sugar plum thoughts dance through our heads:

"I'll show her!"
"At least it gets tidied once a year!"
"I wish I had a cleaning lady!"

God is the expert on cleaning. His purposes are far more pure than ours. He, too, wants to clean hidden corners, but He isn't afraid of prying relatives. He just wants to move into those deep, dark corners of our heart and fill them with His light.

Could we take some housecleaning time this year and devote it to the kind of cleaning God calls for?

Prayer: Dearest Lord, thank You for showing us that the best cleaning begins with You. Change us, God. Make our thoughts and words and attitudes the same as Yours. Purify our hearts. Let them be as gold, as much fine silver. Purify our hearts and come to live in those freshly scrubbed areas. Amen.