Yesterday we held an all-nighter for the high school students, to celebrate the beginning of summer. People had a great time playing games, snacking and watching some movies. I left around two am to take one of the girls home, but Bobby stayed awake all the way till nine this morning. He came home and has slept most of the day to recuperate. With Bobby catching up on his sleep I spent a couple of hours in our kitchen scrubbing and reorganizing. I know I’m late with Spring almost behind us, but I figure it’s better to do it late rather than never.

When I was younger I used to be quite a neat freak. My sisters will remember how I became obsessed when I once heard someone say that cleanliness was next to godliness. I found a verse that said God was a God of order not confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33) and I wrote it down and proudly displayed it on my wall as if I was promoting the order by keeping my room immaculate. Every morning my bed was made just so, every item put in its place, not a speck of dust to be found and I would put the finishing touch by running the vacuum on my side of the room. I shared a room with my younger sister Monica. Now I laugh at how torturous my behaviors must have been! I remember how annoyed she would get at me because I constantly sneered down at her for being so messy. I remember sometimes she would play at a friend’s house for an afternoon and while she was gone I would try to make sense of what I deemed “chaos” on the side opposite mine. I would think I had done her such a favor but she would be so upset because she couldn’t find anything and I would even throw away things I didn’t think were necessary to keep! How obnoxious I was! Thank goodness I don’t hold to such an intrusive rule of cleanliness anymore. Even though I like a clean house, I simply get to it when I can and don’t obsess over small details as much anymore.

With all this cleaning I’ve been doing all week, my thoughts did turn to cleanliness in me. I haven’t been blogging much this week and this is usually the case when I haven’t been diligent to study the Word, read and spend much time in prayer. Sometimes I do a quick clean with God. I flip to a verse quickly, say a passing prayer to bless my day and get on with things. But I know better. God calls our hearts to be pure, attitudes godly and lives to be holy. God does not bargain with us, accepting what is semi-clean. He cannot have anything to do with sin and is completely separate from it. Through Christ we are made His children, but this does not mean He expects less. He commands us to live the new life He has given us by seeking Him with all we are.

Paul gives a humbling exhortation to take seriously the cleaning that is needed in my heart: