Dust Bunny Sins

Any time I go into my four year old daughter’s, Amelia, bedroom to begin cleaning I always begin by glancing around to see what all needs to be done. I pick up her dolls and playhouses and put them away. Stuffed animals go in the big basket. Her little chairs will line up against the wall again. Before long, and a quick glance around says 'looks good enough. All the big stuff is put away'. But is the room really as clean as it needs to be? What about the puzzle pieces and Legos that have slipped under the rug? Or the books that have made their way under the bed? What about the Barbie shoe pile in the corner and the hair bows that seem to be just everywhere? If the 'big stuff' is put away and it looks tidy it is so easy to say that it is good enough to be called 'clean'... but what about the Barbie shoes? What about all the little things that creep by mom’s initial inspection? Those things have to be gathered and put away as well in order for the room to be truly clean.

God has shown me that so I will know that I am just like my little girls room. I have committed some great big sins in my past. Through God’s grace alone I have been able to put those sins away. They have been thrown out, not to be brought back any more. So at a quick glance, I may appear to be 'clean', but what about the corners of my life? Has there been things piled up that need to be gathered and put away? Has some sin been lurking under my bed that I forget I need to clean up? Do I have sin in my life that I sweep under the rug because in my mind they seem so 'small' that they are not important?

Every mom knows what it's like to be walking along just fine and dandy, and out of nowhere step on a Lego. The same thing happens in our spiritual life. I've been walking along to what seemed to be “fine” but then out of nowhere I stepped on a sin that had been swept under the rug and hurt myself. A sin that should have been cleaned up and put away.

So what now? What do I do to really start cleaning up? First I have to ask God to help me identify these sins that seem to be hiding. It's a hard thing to acknowledge but we have to be aware of what sins we have. Once identified God will give you all the proof you need to know that you are in fact guilty. But Gods way is not to condemn. No, His way is to correct. He wants us to bring him these sins from our corners and he wants to help us put them away. He wants to help us clean under our beds. Sweep out all the dust bunnies from our rooms and take an honest look at what needs to be done. There is work to do. Only God can help us clean up.

Amelia is always surprised to see such a mess in her room. She never knows how it happened. "It just did it by itself" is the answer I usually get. But in her way she is saying "Momma, I know you didn't make the mess but will you help me clean up? I can't clean it all on my own."

I prayed that same thing to God today. "God, I know you didn't make this mess. I've put things in corners and under the bed to try and forget about them. But those things are just as important to clean up as the 'big stuff'. I can't clean up alone. I need your help to clean out the sins in my life. Help me, Father, to clean out my corners. Amen"