Spring Cleaning in November?

Well, I am not sure what got into me today! I did some spring-cleaning and it is November! But, when I opened the closet door this morning, I knew today had to be the day. The limp and lifeless clothes, hanging there unworn for at least a year, needed to go…anywhere…out of my life! The shoes were about to take over the floor, scattered aimlessly around, some without their mates!  

Then, just as I walked to the kitchen pantry to retrieve a big, black garbage bag, it really hit me. The pantry was a mess. It was time to do some serious housekeeping. 

First things first, get my husband out of the house for the day. He always thinks that shirt could be used one more time and what is wrong with those pants? He has only had them 6 years and they are barely thin at the knees!  

While I was loading up the bags and bags of stuff, God started working on my heart. He was telling me, “It is just stuff, do you really need it? You have Me.” 

I guess it was about that time scripture started floating through my head, especially Isaiah 43:18-19 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

It made me start to look at the clothes and the shoes as the things in my life that I have been holding on to, not giving my all to Christ. I started to place each item in the bags with new meaning. It became a process, a spiritual cleansing. The bags started to become very heavy, but my soul was getting lighter. 

After three large leaf bags were filled from the closet, I headed to the pantry. The daily food that fed my body became the daily things I put in front of God.  I started to clean the pantry. Be gone old cans, be gone old mixes, be gone things that I do not need or will not use, get out of my life.  

I must admit, I held some of them in my hands and really pondered whether to toss or keep. Ultimately, if I had picked it up, it went out. 

I tied the bags tightly, knowing if my sweet, wonderful hubby came home, he would have had to peek inside and may have tempted me to change my mind. Now, for those of you that know him, you know that he is a kindhearted man, but he is thrifty as well.

Cleaning today gave me a new perspective of getting rid of the old and putting on the new. Life is like my closet and pantry.  It slowly gets cluttered with items that we think we need in our lives. Whether it is wasting time by watching too much television, talking too much, not listening to God when He speaks, and the big one in today’s world….playing on our electronics and phones too much.

Even getting rid of my best friend (hubby) today was something that I needed to do to cleanse my heart and closets! For you see, sometimes even our best friends will pull and tug at you to steal you away from things you know are right (like time spent in God’s Word). They are still your friend, but you need time with Him.

All of the above, I have had to deal with at one time or another in my life. God already knows, so don’t worry.  One of the things He convicted me of a couple of years ago was the time I spent playing games on the internet. Yes, they were innocent, harmless games; nevertheless, they used my time. I really felt God say to me (In my heart) one day, “You need to spend as much time reading my Word as you do on these games.” I never played Farmville again! My wheat and corn went to waste!

But, He was telling me that the devil was using the things that seemed innocent to me, to steal my time with Him. 

What about you? Do you need to do some spring-cleaning in your heart today? The big, black leaf bags weighed down heavy for me today, but my closet and my soul is brighter, cleaner and even smells better! I pray it is a sweet aroma to Him, for it sure is to me! 

Blessings!

gs