I like to have a clean house for the new year. Usually Tom and I are on our way to a National Park Site and the RV has been thoroughly cleaned before we start out. This year, however, we are not volunteering anyplace until May. So this week I have been working on cleaning the house.
Really cleaning the house. Taking everything out of the drawers and closets and cupboards. Washing floorboards and blinds and throw rugs. Tom even took the front off the floor fan so I could wash the blades and covers.
I will not finish cleaning the house this week. Hopefully I will be done by the end of the month. Which is close enough to the new year that I can claim a clean house. Not that the house is particularly dirty. But you should see the size of the dust bunnies that came out from under the beds! The Goodwill pile grows every day.
Every year is, in a way, a clean start. I like to have a clean house to go along with that. It is a way of starting fresh, without any of the baggage of the old year. I wish I could clean the rest of my life in the same way.
Unfortunately there are always unnecessary things we carry with us from one year to another. Every year I tell myself, “Begin as you mean to go on,” a quote from preacher Charles Spurgeon. I try to practice the habits I intend to carry through the year. I try to forgive others and let go of hurts and disappointment. Putting God first every day is a habit that I practice every morning. Allowing myself to be used for God’s purposes in all thing is a goal that I have not yet achieved.
It is a new year. I have, or will have soon, a clean house. May my heart be cleansed as well and dedicated to the glory of God.
10 Create in me a clean heart, God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach wrongdoers Your ways,
And sinners will be converted to You.
14 Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God, the God of my salvation;
Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15 Lord, open my lips,
So that my mouth may declare Your praise.
16 For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You do not take pleasure in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.