Friday thoughts <3
As I have been reflecting more deeply about the season of Lent and the thoughts I shared on the blog yesterday about the Ash Wednesday service we attended at St. Paul’s, it came to mind about some of the things I have written down to “add to” or focus on for growth this season of Lent.
Among these I wrote things like:
- increased times of prayer and study
- reviewing some materials I have put off examining more closely
- purging and deep cleaning of house
The purging was a thought to using time during each day to attack places where clutter has built up in closets and drawers; places where I have stashed things that I wanted to deal with later.
Thinking on this list further, it occurred to me the idea of spring cleaning lines up with the command in the Old Testament for the Israelites to purge/deep clean their houses of all yeast as they prepared for Passover.
I looked it up on the internet, and read about how this cleaning out of yeast was indeed a deep cleaning process much like our modern concept of “spring cleaning.” Here is the link for what I read https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Spring_Holidays/Pesach/Preparations/preparations.html
Refrigerator, freezer, pantry, shelves, cabinets, couch pillows and chair cushions were meticulously cleaned to remove any tiny crumb of bread that might have had yeast. Pants pockets, the pages of any book needed at the Seder table, the cracks in the table…everything…cleaned clear of all signs of this product made with yeast.
Because the “chametz” or yeast represented and symbolized sin.
As the Scripture reminds us, a small amount of leaven worked into dough batter influences the whole batch and so a small amount of sin works itself into every area and infiltrates and changes the nature of our lives.
The material I read reminds us that this same scrutiny of our lives during the days leading up to the celebration of Easter should be as thorough as we search our hearts, minds, and souls for places where we are leaving crumbs of our old nature.
We get lazy.
We aren’t always diligent.
And so during the season of Lent, we may actually get the spring cleaning bug as we wash walls and windows, move furniture to vacuum up those dust bunnies, throw out expired food in the pantry and wipe off the shelves of crumbs.
As we do this, let’s busy our minds with searching and asking God to show to us where we have hidden crumbs of the leaven of sin.
Just as we sweep out, wipe down and throw away the dirt and clutter of our physical homes, we can just as purposefully and intentionally ask for forgiveness and rid ourselves of the internal mess we might find.
We are body, soul and spirit so as we do the physical actions of preparing our homes for a new season, let’s also prepare our inner lives to make more room for Christ.
I hope you will prayerfully consider what God might be speaking to you as we enter the season of Lent and I know you will be blessed as you respond with obedience to His guidance.