We all know about spring cleaning. Wash the walls, beat the rugs, clean the mattresses… A quick search online will produce countless articles about how to do it right, fast, with the whole family. This blog post isn’t another how-to or list of tasks–you don’t need more reminders about spring cleaning. Instead, I’m digging into how spring cleaning can be a reminder of God’s grace – a reminder I never get tired of hearing about.
This morning the sun was streaming into my kitchen with so much joy. I have windows on the east and the south, so the room fills with light, which I love. But one downside? That sunshine reveals every single streak and crumb and stain.
That sunshine reminds me that I need to clean. I love a really clean house. My mother set the gold standard. She was so organized about her cleaning. Mondays were for the kitchen. Tuesdays for laundry. Wednesdays . . . and so forth. She even had special cleaning clothes to wear.
I used to think I’d clean exactly like she did, but I’ve never been organized about cleaning.
My Simple Cleaning Routine
Still, over my decades of disorganized cleaning, I’ve figured out what works best for me – staying on top of daily chores, a little bit every day.
Here’s my simple list of 10 daily chores, and each one takes no longer than a few minutes which means for about 30 minutes a day, my house looks and feels clean. At least on the surface. (And my sweetie helps with a lot of these.)
- Make the bed.
- Wipe the bathroom sink and counter.
- Squeegee the shower walls/doors.
- Unload/load dishwasher.
- Wipe the kitchen counters after meal prep.
- Wipe down the front of the dishwasher/fridge/oven.
- Organize desk clutter/papers at the end of the work day.
- Put away stray house clutter.
- Take out the trash.
- Plump family room pillows and fold cozy blankets.
My house is still far from the spotless homes I see on social media, though. I rarely have a top-to-bottom clean house. And I feel guilty about that, like this morning. When did I last wipe the fronts of the cabinets? Ugh. When was the last time I emptied the drawers and wiped out all the crumbs?
This guilt is even worse when I watch cleaning/influencers on social media who show me how to clean mattresses (baking soda!?) and hairbrushes and ovens and drawers. And they look so cute as they clean. More guilt.
Let’s dig deeper.
Then there’s the deep cleaning. I’m not going to get into the nitty gritty of that right now. Things like emptying all the drawers, organizing closets, washing windows. I’m still working on a system for that. I’ve been tweaking it for 40+ years so when I figure it out, it will be really good.
(If you want a few of my thoughts on the actual process of spring cleaning, read this post!)
Because cleanliness is next to godliness, right? No, that’s not actually in the Bible. It dates back to Francis Bacon, an essayist who wrote in the early 1600s and then John Wesley, a theologian who referenced it in a sermon 200 years later as “Slovenliness is no part of religion. Cleanliness is indeed next to Godliness.”
So what’s all the fuss about cleaning?
For starters, tons of research shows that we feel less stressed when we have a clean and orderly space around us. That’s me for sure. I can’t begin cooking in a messy kitchen. I can’t begin a writing project with a messy desk. And I have a hard time relaxing to read a book if the family room is cluttered with stuff.
I love humorist Dave Barry’s wisdom on cleaning — He writes:
Normal person’s weekly chore list:
- Clean kitchen.
- Clean bathroom.
- Clean the entire rest of the domicile.
Cleaning-impaired person’s weekly chore list:
- Don’t get peanut butter on sheets.
Yes, that was certainly my life when our kids were little. It is definitely easier as an empty nester.
Spring Cleaning and the Passover
So that sunshine I mentioned earlier? Yep, spring is upon us in my part of the world, and with it comes the tradition of the annual spring cleaning.
I was surprised to find that it has its roots in The Passover Feast. The ancient Jewish practice was to completely clean the home to prepare for the Passover because they were to refrain from eating or drinking anything which may have been leavened or fermented with yeast. They were also commanded to rid their homes of all yeast or leavening agents. This became a spring cleaning ritual for them.
If you don’t know about The Passover, here’s a quick overview. This is the celebration of the time thousands of years ago when the Lord protected the Israelites during the plague that would kill the first-born males in every household in Egypt. The Lord instructed them to sacrifice a lamb and then paint the doorposts of their homes with the blood to indicate to the destroyer not to enter those homes. The Passover comes to fruition in the Lord Jesus Christ whose sacrifice redeems. So fascinating!
The deep cleaning was for a very real reason, but it is also very symbolic, pointing us to the cleansing that comes through the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ who takes away the sin of the world. John 1:29
How Spring Cleaning Can Be a Reminder of God’s Grace
I’m a messy-clean paradox, just like my house
I’m a lot like my house which is superficially clean most days: superficially clean. I don’t rob banks or murder; I go to church regularly and pray; I read my Bible and serve others. And yes, I can smugly say, I have never bowed down to any golden idols in my house. Everything appears pretty clean on the outside.
But if you look under the cushions, inside the closets, and inside my heart? You’ll find a dirty mess.
The Messy Truth
You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
Matthew 5:21-22
Gulp.
I commit “murder” when I’m angry and hateful to even one other person; steal when I take away the joy from my marriage with my nagging or complaining about the messy garage; worry about my adult children, my grandkids, and the world. Even as I meditated on a Bible verse this morning, my mind wandered to writing this blog post. Was I saying the right words? Would the readers appreciate this?
Another way to look at this is that I worship other gods. Me — myself and I — And anything that sits above God. Those are my idols. Being in control? That’s my god. Being organized. That’s my god. Worry. That’s my god. I am always convicted when I think about these things. In God’s eyes, my messes are just as troubling as the messes of a murderer on death row.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1 John 1:8
Billy Graham’s grandson Tullian Tchvidian writes, “Outside cleanup never leads to inside cleanup. Only inside cleanup leads to outside cleanup and there is only One who can do that.”
Consider how Isaiah describes our messes — in Isaiah 64:6
All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
This is my heart. And while I don’t even know you, this is your heart too.
But God.
Perhaps you know about the thief on the cross who just minutes before his death turns to Christ and says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
And Christ’s response: “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
Today. Right away. Messy and all. A criminal made clean the moment before his death.
In Ephesians 5: 25-27 we hear about how much Christ loves us and how beautifully He cleans us up:
Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
Is there anything more beautiful than that? This is grace. God’s riches at Christ’s expense.
God isn’t worried about the number of messes I’ve made, the kind of messes you’ve made, or the mess we’ve made of the messes.
He just wants us to see our messes, recognize them, confess them and say, “I’m sorry.” Just like David cried to God in the depth of his mess. God forgave him. God gave him a clean heart.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1: 9
Some of you may think your messes are deeper and bigger than anything I’ve mentioned. You might be sitting there thinking — yeah, she’s talking about her messes but they aren’t as bad as my messes. Perhaps you or your loved ones have battled with depression, abuse, adultery, pornography, addictions. And if you are in the middle of another kind of mess – one of those life messes like cancer, losing a job, divorce, chronic pain? Please know this. God meets you smack dab in the middle of every single mess with His presence and grace and love and forgiveness. The bottom line. You are forgiven, redeemed, cleansed.
Just a couple weeks ago, we heard again the words Jesus said on the cross. “It is finished.” John 19:30.
In the midst of real messes and superficial messes, I have peace, and I can go about the business of the day. Organizing and cleaning one more messy kitchen drawer.
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