Cobwebs On My Ceiling

I consider myself a very consistent, two-notches-above-mediocre housekeeper. My laundry is folded and put away right after it is washed 98% of the time. I clean out my fridge once a week. If you were to look around my house, you would probably agree that though the floors aren't necessarily "eat off of them clean," (I have three kids and a dog....it isn't even a goal at this point in my life) things are generally clean.

I go through my days feeling like I have a fairly steady handle on the cleanliness of my home until, BAM! I accidentally turn on the bright, overhead light in my bedroom. And there it is: a legitimate infrastructure of cobwebs on my ceiling. I am at once put in my place. I can THINK things are clean because of the lighting (or lack thereof) in my house!

Now, I am not saying that having cobwebs on my ceiling makes my home a filthy place. It doesn't. The big messes are dealt with as they happen, and prevented when possible. But I do mention the cobwebs, because the Lord speaks to my heart in this same way. I can walk around THINKING that my heart is pretty tidy. The big sin is dealt with, and avoided when possible. Then, BAM! God turns the lights up a little brighter to show me corners of my heart I didn't know needed cleaning. Ugh.

Thank you, Lord, for being a gentleman in the way you show me the "cobwebs" of my heart when the time is right for me to see them. Thank you for never letting me settle in too comfortably, where I would miss the peace that comes from knowing the dust has truly been removed. Thank you for cleaning my heart for me, by the blood of Jesus, when I don't have a tall enough ladder to reach, or a strong enough disinfectant to kill whatever has soiled it. You promise to give me a perfectly pure heart, and you ask me to act in obedience on the journey to get there. So thank you for the bright lights; time to start clearing cobwebs.