Christmas Cleaning - Inside and Out

For most of us the outside work for the year is finished. Most everything is put away waiting for spring. As most of you know, this is not the end of the chores to be accomplished by a long shot. December is arriving and there is now the task of decorating the inside and outside for this beautiful Christmas time. And even when we scratch our heads at all the "Christmas stuff" we see in the stores in the middle of October, it's just another way the world is telling us that it's never too early to think about Jesus coming.

But with the outside taken care of and the inside sitting waiting for decorations, we have to do one other thing first. It's time to clean up. We have spring cleaning but we also have Christmas cleaning. Many people take this time for something more than dusting and cleaning. It's also a time to re-arrange all the furniture and make the home . . . well, different.

It's time consuming. That pile of old magazines need to go and those things that never found their intended special place need to go back where they belong. A wonderful friend, Doug, told me a long time ago that if you put things back, you get two things. You know where they are for next time and you have a tidy work bench. I'm still working on that. Cleaning is the precursor of decorating. We are in Advent. This is our time to figuratively clean house within our hearts and minds. It involves all those selfsame items of life that clutter our lives. Things need to be put in place and other things (sin) need to be swept up and put in the bin.

Last Sunday after clearing away some items, we took on HOPE. It's not the same hope the world talks about as they buy their lottery ticket. It's knowing a certainty. Jesus is coming. Hope is one of our decorations of life as we get ready for . . . for the most important person in human history.

My prayer in just knowing He is coming will inspire us to clean a little better this year.

Something to think about

Rob