Yesterday, hubby & I cleaned. Not just the normal, straighten-dust-done kind of cleaning. We did the start from scratch-wash everything-deep cleaning thing. Now, if you've ever been to my house, you know that this is a bit...well, rare. But things had gotten out of control. We were starting to misplace stuff, feel claustrophobic, and had stopped inviting people over. 

 I'd avoided it for way too long. I thought it was going to be horrible, and I wanted to do anything but face it. But here's the thing: once we got started, it was kinda fabulous. The stuff that had taken over, caused me stress, filled me with dread wasn't as intimidating as it seemed once we started addressing it. The pile of laundry took less time to fold than I expected, the bathrooms were quick, and I love the freshness and order that we have again. Now we can invite people into our space again, and I don't have to pretend I don't see the problem. Relief!

So, as I went through a pile of old papers (Do I really need this coupon that expired Sept 15...2007?), I started thinking about how similar the whole thing was to sin. It's starts small and hidden. You rationalize that it's no big deal, you'll get to it soon. But you don't, and somewhere along the line you stop inviting people into your space. You stop looking at the problem directly. Dealing with the issue seems overwhelming, so you just don't.  You dread and avoid and meanwhile, it takes over your life.

But most of us can remember a "spring cleaning" of past sins. Certainly, some issues take huge amounts of effort, support, prayer and discipline to clean up, but it's rarely as bad as you expect. You are supported and washed and lavished with grace by the God who loves you through the entire process. The relief and freedom you get makes you wonder why you avoided it so long. You get your life back. You get clean. There's nothing like cleaning day.