Spring Cleaning for the Spirit

     Have you ever worked with someone who didn’t bathe on a regular basis?  It is not a very pleasant experience, and believe me, I know!  Keeping ourselves clean is important to staying healthy.  We all know this.  But it is not just the physical clean that we need to be concerned with.  Having a clean, pure spirit is more important to a longer life than having a clean exterior.  In fact, it’s the only way to live forever.

     It was a long time ago when I decided to accept that God had sent his son to earth to die for all my sins, but I still remember the prayer that my pastor asked me to repeat: “Dear God, I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself.  I believe you sent your son to die on the cross to save me from my sins.  Please come into my life and make me clean.”  Now, I didn’t pray this so that God could make me physically clean.  I was a teenage girl, so I spent a very long time in the shower everyday, just ask my mom!  I prayed this prayer so that God could clean my spirit and make me feel good on the inside.  That’s what God does.  He makes us feel good on the inside and then we tend to take better care of the outside when the inside feels better.  There is a book in the bible called 1 John.  In chapter 1 verse 9 it says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (NIV).  All we have to do is ask God for forgiveness and we are cleansed.  If you feel like you need a little spring-cleaning of the soul, God can make it sparkle.  It’s kind of like cleaning all the dust off the trim around your house.  No one really notices it but you, but it feels so good to have it clean!

     If you are all ready a Christian I learned something just the other day that you might enjoy hearing.  I was listening to a psychiatrist who came to speak at my local MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group.  He said that Christians have the healthiest lifestyle.  It only took me a few minutes to figure out why.  We strive to seek God in everything we do.  In the book of the bible called Hebrews there is a verse that describes this perfectly.  It is in chapter 10 and it’s verse 22.  It says, “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience….”.  We try to get close to God as much as we can and he keeps us cleansed from all the stuff the world dumps on us.  I know it is hard to remember to let go of the worldly things and let God clean up our guilty conscience but if we want a clean spirit we have to ask him for forgiveness and get close to him on a regular basis.  When ever I have a troubled conscience or get stressed out and worried about the little things as we so often do, I think of sending all my troubles up to God in a little tube, like the ones at the bank.  This may seem silly but it works for me.  When that tube comes back it is full of nothing but Gods love and understanding (although I wouldn’t mind that occasional Dum Dum sucker!!).