Spring Cleaning...God's Way

Well it's that time of year again. The time that many husbands dread. Time for Spring cleaning. Wives, their voices dripping with honey, implore us to help move the couch, the love seat, and to dust an upper shelf that's out of their reach. (I explain to my wife that we have a step ladder in the laundry room. Her response? “I have one dear. You.” Being tall isn't all it's cracked up to be at times.) We shouldn't forget that, as Christians, we are not above God doing some housework in us. When we let dust and dirt pile up, God will definitely do some cleaning.

After all, what does God consider His temple? Is it a church? No. God's word says His temple is not made with hands. God's temple is our body. And God will not live in a temple that's gotten too dirty. He won't move out, of course. When God moves into His temple, that's His home. But if that temple becomes dirty, God will not hesitate to do some house cleaning. And, given the time of year, you could say God's doing some Spring cleaning.

Jesus demonstrated how important God's temple is when He entered the temple and saw all the iniquities. He fashioned a whip and proceeded to knock over tables, chase merchants, free the animals that were being sold, and He scattered all the money the money changers had put away. He said, “"It is written, `My house shall be called the house of prayer,' but ye have made it a den of thieves." (Matthew 21:13)
Jesus did some major cleaning.

God made our body, His temple, to be a house of prayer. But we turn that house of prayer into a den of thieves. How do we do this? We watch television when we should be reading the bible. We watch sports on Sunday instead of going to church. We gaze upon things we should never look at. We treat others badly. All of this steals from God and the dirt piles up in His temple. And if we don't clean it by asking His forgiveness, He'll clean it Himself. And when God cleans, He really cleans! His “Spring cleaning” will feel like a hand slapping you upside your head. Your conscience is loaded down with guilt, some blessings may be withheld that you were counting on. When God cleans out His temple, He will get your attention. It will make us wonder, why didn't I just take it to God and have Him throw it out?

If you can do despicable things, and not feel God cleaning house, don't brag. That means He doesn't live there. Did Jesus go into the pagan temples and clean them out?

If God doesn't live in you as the Resident of His temple, why not throw the doors wide open and invite Him in to live there and make that temple His own?