Taking time to clean..

Today I need to do much cleaning. One thing I need to clean is my fridge. How do they get so dirty? I am in wonder of how dust can move upon and stay on a ceiling fan that forever stays moving. If you are like me, and you have to admit that maybe sometimes you turn the fans on just so you can't see the dirt! So much I need to do, the bedroom, the bathrooms that are forever dirty. I thought it was hard cleaning with three girls at home, but having only boys now, including my husband I think its even harder. Although my husband helps me with all I have to do. Today the man is canning pickles. He has taken care of our garden with such a happy face. He loves gardening and giving the fruits of it away to bless others. Is it ever hard for you to get motivated to clean? I have the christian radio playing, the music is up loud and I am still wondering,"Okay,is there any way to get out of all this work?" As on Mary Poppins when she snaps her fingers and the rooms clean themselves,what a wonder that would be. But as I look at all this work ahead of me, it can be overwhelming. You begin to think which room should I begin in,which is easier and which can I do tomorrow. I am only being honest here, for there seems like there could be so many things much more exciting than to clean. A clean house feels so wonderful, you can see the hard work you have put into it. Once you clean out the fridge, do you not stand back with a smile and think,"Wow,that looks so great"? Instead of sweeping the dirt under the rug, we must get out the brooms and the vacuum out and begin cleaning away all the dirt that at times we cannot see. The kitchen may look clean, but all the germs that are there we cannot see need to be cleaned well,not just wiped over with a rag. All that dust starts to build up, laying there growing by day. We can't just run a hand over it, we must clean as to get the dust from the bottom up. We cannot just rinse the dishes off, we have to scrub at times to get the deep baked food off.We can't just walk into the house with our shoes on expecting no dirt to get on the floor, we take our shoes off at the door as not to get more dirt tracked in the house. We don't just clean our clothes, our home,the garage, and the yard, we must also clean our hearts with an enthusiasm that only Christ can give. As we take pride in our home, we want a clean home, a home that feels warm and has love overflowing. Are not our hearts more important than our homes? Yes, they are, and to clean our hearts is what God wants us to do daily, at times minute by minute depending on what dirt is being left on. If the inside is not clean the outside can not be truelly clean. What we see as clean is not always what is lying beneath. We must get out the cleaners and our muscle to do a good job, when we clean our hearts we also get out the best cleaner known to man. He can see dirt that we were not able to see. He can make us shine as the tables shine before us after cleaning. If we want our hearts to be clean before Him, we must allow Him to do the cleaning not ourselves, putting our weakness in His strengths. Just as we stand back and see our clean homes, He stands back and sees the clean that only He placed in our hearts by removing all the dirt. Just as you see a truck in the parking lot with a fingerprint that has written "Wash Me", we too need Christ's fingerprints written on our hearts that are so dirty they shout "Clean Me". Cleaning is all part of growing, it may not be fun, but it is refreshing when we have been touched by His hand..