Today’s words of faith were inspiring by my day of cleaning. That’s right folks cleaning. I took the day off from work to clean my house. John is away at a youth pastor’s conference and Abby would be in daycare the whole day so I would have the whole house to myself (well our other girls were here (aka the dogs)) so I leaped at the chance to deep clean before pulling out the Christmas decorations. I started with the kitchen because…well…it tends to get the grossest. So I started with the china cabinet and worked my way around the kitchen cleaning out cabinets and drawers. I moved my everyday dishes and put my beautiful holiday dishes on display. I reorganized the cabinet with all of Abby’s bottles and sippy cups (I can’t believe we’re starting sippy cups!). I continued with organizing storage containers (if it is possible to organize those things…don’t believe the Rubbermaid commercial about the tops that snap on the bottoms…it doesn’t work that way!) I went through the canned food cabinet and I’m surprised we haven’t died of something. I guess I never think to check the dates on canned food because its canned food and isn’t suppose to ever expire right??
So I’m still cruising through the cabinets and get to my last set. I am standing on a chair looking through the dry food items and my eyes happen to glance at the top of the fridge. I seriously almost fell out of my chair! It was SO gross! I guess I don’t think about cleaning the top of the fridge. I clean out the contents of the fridge and freezer and wipe down the door and the side (where the trashcan is) but I never think to clean off the top. I mean I should because I do actually store some things up there but I guess I’m not thorough enough (at least I wasn’t before today–it is now on my list!).
So this whole thing got me thinking, what areas of our lives do we neglect to clean? We may pray, read our Bible, attend a small group, but are there areas that we miss? Do we pay attention what goes into our minds (and hearts) through what we watch or listen to? Maybe its that gossip is our dirty little secret. Maybe it pride. In Matthew 23, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees stating, “You wash the outside of your cups and dishes but inside they are full of things you got by cheating others and by pleasing only yourselves. Pharisees, you are blind! First make the inside of the cup clean, and then the outside of the cup can be truly clean.”
The following paragraph comes from my devotional Bible, Becoming: The Devotional Bible for Women:
Loved this post and it got me thinking about cleaning up a little more in my own life.
Wow, Jamee, you’re really profound girl! I can tell that you stay constantly in the word because (I’m guessing from this post) when your mind wanders, it wanders right on over to the Lord. What a blessing!
And, for the record, I clean my fridge top about twice a year! I know, it’s totally gross here too! And, I also vacuum all the lint/dust from underneath. It helps the fridge work better!!! LOL
And, Happy SITS Day!
Wow–this was amazing and exactly what I needed to read today. Thanks! (And happy SITS day again).
I don’t have to clean the top of my fridge : )
You know why?
There is so much crap up there, no dust could ever fall to the actual top of it : )
I should work on that tomorrow!
Gosh, you’re so right! It’s true that sometimes we keep our surfaces and things we see all the time kept up but what about those things we don’t see and get to often. Our thoughts are a biggie.
Well written!
I feel like we often know in our hearts what needs cleaning, it’s a matter of taking authentic steps to make it better that is hard.
The place I don’t clean as often as I should (read: almost never!) is the top shelf of my pantry. I can’t remember the last I did. Bad, I know. The top of the refrigerator is not a problem for me. I live in Mexico, where our fridges tend to be smaller. I’m 5’6″ and the top of the fridge is at the height of my shoulders. But I dream of one day owning a big, tall fridge, whose top I will only clean once in a blue moon. 🙂
I have a TON of unclean places inside. Great post and reminder about attending to our spiritual growth. I’m stopping by from SITS.