My husband thinks I am a little crazy, but I really like to clean. Not just the regular dusting and sweeping kind of cleaning, but the kind of cleaning where you take everything out of the cabinet, scrub it, reorganize, polish. Usually, I get in a hurry and pile things around, so every once in a while this deep cleaning, as I call it, is necessary. Probably the worst place for getting in bad shape is my refrigerator. My pet peeve is too many open bottles of condiments.  How many jars of mustard does one family need, anyway? I must confess that over the weekend I pulled out 87 VHS tapes to figure out what to do with, since we haven’t played any of them in at least 10 years. That’s a lot of space to put to better use, for sure! So I do enjoy returning my home to its intended functionality and purpose.

This is a metaphor for our lives, isn’t it? Our lives can get cluttered with the unnecessary, whether it be more physical stuff than we need; or emotional habits, problems, and feelings; or time-wasting endeavors, etc. — all things that can distract us from our intended functionality and purpose. Sometimes what we need is a deep cleaning for our own lives.

I thought about this as I was reading in the gospels about John the Baptist. In each of the four gospels, John the Baptist says that he came to baptize the Jews with water for repentance. In Luke 3, he clarifies by saying that “the man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.” He told the tax collectors “don’t collect any more than you are required to” and he told the soldiers “don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely–be content with your pay.”

 The September 29 “Daily Hope” devotional by Rick Warren really challenged me in this regard. He talked about the necessity of confession in order to purify our lives. He recommended this practice:

“Here’s what I suggest you do if you really want to be used by God: Take time this week to sit down with a pen and a pad of paper, and say, “God, what’s wrong in my life? Show me. I’m going to write it down, and I’m going to admit it. I’m going to confess it to you.” Then, when God gives you an idea, write it down…. Make a list, and then write 1 John 1:9 over it and say, “God, I admit these to you. These are wrong. I don’t want them in my life.” Ask God to cleanse your life. God will forgive you!”

 Rick said that you don’t have to be a perfect person, but you do have to have a pure heart.  He quoted 2 Timothy 2:21, “If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work” (NLT).

 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

When John the Baptist was preaching repentance, he was preparing the way for Jesus to come and to baptize us all with the Holy Spirit. Augustine said, “The confession of bad works is the beginning of good works.”  I pray that we will all commit to a regular practice of confession and repentance so that we can be used by Jesus in the way that he intended, in a way that will most glorify Him.

Blessings,

Judy