by Emily Smith

When I was little, I heard the term “spring cleaning” and asked my parents what it meant. My dad made a passing joke about how it’s the time you get all your springs out and clean them. Being a serious child, I took this quite literally. I was baffled but took his word for it. Of course, later I mentioned this in a public setting and was laughed at by a bunch of grown-ups. Now, I cringe and laugh whenever my husband starts joking about how we should clean our springs.

But this year as we start to clean out the closets, I can’t help but think about the symbolism of this common cleaning occurrence.

As we clean our houses in preparation for our new spring beginning, we should turn our focus inward to look at cleaning the cobwebs out of our hearts.

Psalm 51:10 explains,

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

Sin can hide in our hearts like a broken old toy that we can’t bring ourselves to throw out. We get so used to the guilt, shame, and sin being there even though it does us no good and even harms us. Sometimes we may have many even have twenty of these broken trinkets taking up space in our hearts from the years of unrepentant sin!.

What would our hearts look like if we cleaned all of this junk out and gave it to God?

Repenting all of the cobweb-covered sins that were stuck in the back of our hearts is the first step to repentance and ultimately forgiveness in Jesus Christ.

1 John 1:9 states,

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Jesus is faithful to forgive the smallest and the largest junk we’ve been keeping in the closet. As you start your spring cleaning or at least start thinking about spring cleaning, reflect on areas of your heart that could use and good sweep.