Spiritual Treasure
by Char Roth, Pastor at Marion Mennonite Church
Spring Cleaning
As spring arrives, how many of us
do spring cleaning? After a long winter, I am ready to get busy and clean
the parts of the house that have been
closed up and are dusty and perhaps
musty. I can open the windows, let in
fresh air and sunlight and clean away a
season of clutter and dirt.
I tend to get a little carried away
this time of the year; flip the mattress
over, turn the top end to the bottom
end, wash the windows, clean the
blinds, move and clean all the furniture and clean out the cupboards. Deep
cleaning is cleaning the places most of
us cannot even see, but we know needs
cleaning.
Just as we do physical Spring
Cleaning, we may need to do spiritual
Spring Cleaning. The Bible encourages
us to draw close to God and allow our
hearts and bodies to be cleansed. This
is the first step in our spring cleaning
project. We can’t clean by ourselves.
Instead we must draw close to God and
ask Him to do the cleansing.
Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean
heart, O God; and renew a right spirit
within me.
Hebrews 10:22 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 and
having our bodies washed with pure water.
Spiritual cleansing requires deep
cleaning, it is housekeeping that goes
beyond what others see and hear. It’s a
cleansing from within, inside and out.
As your heart gets clean, your actions
should follow.
One of the biggest areas of
struggle for most of us, removing the
garbage from our minds. Garbage in,
equals garbage out. We must feed our
minds and spirits the Word of God
instead of the garbage of this world.
Romans 12:2 Do not conform any
longer to the patte rn of this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your
mind. Then you will be able to test and
approve what God’s will is—his good,
pleasing and perfect will.
Hidden sin will destroy your life,
your peace, and even your health. The
Bible says to confess your sin - tell
someone, and reach out for help. When
your spiritual closets are clean, the
heaviness from hidden sin will lift.
Psalm 32:3-5 When I kept silent, my
bones wasted away through my groaning
all day long. For day and night your hand
was heavy upon me; my strength was
sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I
acknowledged my sin to you and did not
cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the LORD”—and
you forgave the guilt of my sin.
After you have done your spring
cleaning and spiritual spring cleaning,
enjoy the beautiful creation God has
given us. The wonder and awe of new
life is inspiring and life giving.
Our thanks to the local pastors for writing this column on a rotating schedule in return for a free listing for their church in our Hometown Church listing.
As such, views expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect that of The Hometown Treasure.
— Editor
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The Hometown Treasure · May ‘13 · pg 51