Spring Cleaning

For those of you who may not have figured this out yet, let me save you lots of time and effort. "MEN AND WOMEN ARE DIFFERENT!" There, the secret is out!

For instance, to a man an attic is a space where things go and are never thought of again until it is (a.) Christmas or (b.)time to move. Whereupon we either (a.) reach in just far enough to grab the lights from last year to hang on the house or (b.) haul it all out to the curb for the trash man.

On the other hand, a woman has a need to know just what is up there and why. For some time now the contents of our attic have been sending mental messages to my wife. She has been telling me that we needed to "clean out the attic" for a few weeks but the Lord has smiled and kept us too busy for such. That was, until Saturday.

I rose early and rode out to have breakfast with some good friends then came home to start on "attic day". I will not be telling you about the fall I took off the patio thereby scraping the hide off my right elbow and left knee, you might think I am clumsy, so never mind.

Long story short, the attic is now empty, even swept out. Now at one point my garage looked like the aftermath from Katrina, but we began the long, arduous process of deciding what went to the curb (May I hereby place on record my public apology to the Jacksonville Department of Sanitation...you're gonna need a bigger truck!) What needed to be washed in preparation for the garage sale (yeah, where did that come from and when did I agree to that?) and what needed to be retained for later. (for use in my children's future homes, I'm told).

Thank goodness some dear friends called my wife late in the afternoon and invited us to the Travelers game or we might have been out there until midnight.

But all in all, it was a good thing. There was a lot of accumulated trash and worthlessness that needed to be removed. Which gives me a good springboard to explore the spiritual side of things.

It is good to do a little spring cleaning spiritually from time to time too. Things can accumulate in our attics, basements, closets, and other areas of our minds and lives that just dampens our joy and interferes with the kind of relationship God wants to have with us...his children.

I love the promise of I John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." No conditions, no judgment, just confess it (which is a simple agreement with God that it is/was wrong and that you're sorry for it) and ask Him to forgive it (and His forgiveness is perfect. He removes it as far as the east is from the west) and again with a "clean slate".

Praise God for His holy forgetfulness and complete forgiveness. One catch, this spring cleaning is reserved for those who have become part of the family of God through salvation in His Son Jesus Christ.

Do you need a little tidying up? It might not be pleasant during the process, but after the dust clears, it is so much better. Hey, I'm even proud of my attic now!

Have a great day, that's what HE wants for you!