Have you swept lately?

[Debra]

It’s amazing the ideas that come to my head for these weekly devos. I don’t know why I continue to be amazed that God puts things on my heart to share with my friends. I think its proof that if we are looking for lessons to be learned and ways to share those lessons, as always, He provides.

Friday night I got home at a decent hour (7:30) so I decided to do a little house cleaning. I started by sweeping my kitchen floor. As I swept under and around my kitchen table I noticed I swept up some leaves of a flower arrangement I had been given a couple of weeks ago. My first thought was, “Ugh, I haven’t swept my floor in 2 weeks!” (Can’t believe I just shared that!) The thoughts that followed are what I want to share with you.

As I swept those petals and leaves up, I felt like I was finally cleaning my heart up from a bad experience and memory. As I continued to sweep I thought about all the negative emotion regarding that event and let myself imagine sweeping those bad feelings into a pile and then into the dust pan and finally the trash. Suddenly a song that we sing at my church popped into my head and I started singing, “Create in me a clean heart oh God. And renew a right spirit within me.” Anger, sadness and disappointment started to just disappear as God’s love (or the Holy Spirit) swept my heart clean. It had been two weeks since I swept my kitchen floor, but it had also been awhile since I asked God to clean my heart and renew my spirit. Philemon 1:20b says “..refresh my heart in Christ.” Proverbs 12:25b says, “He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” Romans talks about transforming ourselves by the renewing of our minds and the Psalm that song comes from Psalms 51:10, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

There may be lots of things that are making our hearts dirty…ill feelings towards friends, bad relationships or past experience and even stress (Robotics aaahhhh!). Stress can clog our hearts just like anything else and that can stifle our spirit. But God is there to refresh our spirit like the sky after rain. He’s there to wash the filth from our heart like the rain washes our road ways. He’s there to help us start each day with a pure heart if we just ask Him. I know I felt better about my kitchen after cleaning it, but more importantly, I felt better about my heart condition as I asked God to create in me a clean heart too.

DISCUSSION: AS THE HOLIDAY SEASON WINDS DOWN AND WE PACK AWAY OUR DECORATIONS AND THROW AWAY THE WRAPPING PAPER, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE IN YOUR LIFE THAT MAYBE YOU NEED TO DO AWAY WITH ALSO?

[James Nored]

Wow, Debra. You are asking us to be introspective, to loook inside. And that's not something we Americans are good at. We are good at action, being busy. Not contemplation or soul searching. But we need to do this. Thanks for making us think.

[Steve Cunningham]

Debra, there are PLENTY of things that need to be swept out of my life, and if I look to God and see His guidance they will be.