Clearing out the cobwebs

I was cleaning house yesterday and decided it was really time to sort out some of the stacks that had accumulated over the busy months of November and December (and the busy years of 2007 and 2008, if I'm really going to be honest). I pulled out furniture, cleaned windows, took the blowdryer to silk plants (don't ask), wiped cupboard tops and dusted areas that probably have been sitting for quite some time, to judge by the number of cobwebs.

Now some people enjoy housecleaning. They'll say things like "I really feel like I accomplished something" or "It relaxes me". I, on the other hand, see it as one of the more pointless activities I can do in any given time slot. Why? BECAUSE IT ALWAYS NEEDS DOING AGAIN. Sometimes almost immediately. I'll just finish the dishes and before I've hung up the tea towel, there's another spoon in the sink. Ack!!

But I know it has to be done. So I invited some friends over for dinner (motivation is key) and started to clean to prepare for their visit. And as I was wiping out the cobwebs from a hidden corner of the living room, I thought of this passage from the Bible:

"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation." Matthew 12: 43-45 (NIV)

I thought, Boy, if I just substitute the word 'spider' for 'demon', that would be an exact description of what happens in my house. I chase one spider out and seven more move in and start spinning.

Of course, there is a spiritual application as well. It's not enough to think we've "cleaned house" and then let our old habits and attitudes creep back in until the corners of our hearts, minds and souls are filled with cobwebs again. We should regularly come to God and have a 'spiritual spring cleaning' to be sure that our house is clean, put in order and then OCCUPIED with God's own presence.

'Cause guess what? He's coming to dinner (Rev 3:20) and I want to be ready for him too.