That's what I love.
What I don't love is the process of getting it clean and keeping it that way. After all, that involves things like washing dishes, mopping floors, and cleaning the toilet. And who really likes to do that??!!
But, even though I don't enjoy the process, the finished product is worth the effort.
I went to the dentist yesterday and had my teeth cleaned. I really love having clean teeth. But I really don't love the process. In fact, I have an aversion to pretty much everything that has to do with the dentist.
I don't enjoy the process, but the finished result is worth it.
Do you see a common theme here?
Consider this verse from Psalm 51. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10)
Having a clean heart - dealing with all the issues that "dirty" it up - is a process. A process that can be as unpleasant as cleaning the house. But the end result is worth the effort. The difference is that we can't clean up our hearts on our own, not in the same way we can clean our own house. It's more like having our teeth cleaned; we need someone else.
Note that the Psalmist didn't say "I will clean up my heart and give myself a right spirit." He called on God to do that, to give him a clean heart. It is God who does the work of cleaning up our hearts. Our part is to identify the "dust bunnies" and the "clutter", the sins and resentments and bitterness and all the other things that are dirtying up our hearts. And once identified, our part is then to confess them to God, to lay them at His feet, and to ask Him to give us a clean heart and to renew a right spirit within us.
What does all that have to do with Christmas? A great deal, actually. Because that's why Jesus came.
This week I'm putting the final touches on the Christmas decorations here in our home. And in the process of getting decorations out of their storage places, and putting the regular things away until after Christmas, I've made quite a mess. A mess that must be cleaned up. It's a process. And the end result will be worth it.
As we're preparing for Christmas, perhaps the best thing for each of us is to do some cleaning up. Not just getting ornaments out of boxes or moving some photos to a different spot. But a real clean-up. A heart clean-up.
Perhaps a good way to prepare for Christmas is to find a quiet spot and pray with the psalmist....."Create in me a clean heart." Perhaps it's time to clean out all the clutter and make room for Jesus.
"Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown
When Thou camest to earth for me;
But in Bethlehem's home there was found no room
For Thy holy nativity.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus -
There is room in my heart for Thee."
(text: Emily E. S. Elliott; Music: Timothy R. Matthews)
Listen to an acapella version of this carol here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBXpuLT1ilo
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