Cue the dreary music. One of my least favorite tasks of the year has arrived—packing up all the Christmas decorations and cleaning up the mess.
I look forward to pulling out the boxes of Christmas decorations each year. I do a good bit of decorating, so it’s a lot of boxes, but it’s like greeting old friends as I open each container. If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you’ve probably figured out by now that I’m a sentimental sap.
Some of my favorite Christmas decorations include the nativity set that belonged to my parents. It’s the only Christmas item I have from my childhood so I really treasure it. There are ornaments my boys made in school and others I’ve made each year with the grandbabies.
The carolers on my mantel and the Lenox sleigh were from our Popie and Nana Sexton, precious folks who touched our lives in so many ways. So many cherished things that make our house look festive!
But taking everything down, packing up the boxes, and carrying everything back up to our storage closet? Not fun at all, and a task I dread. And every year as I start the marathon of wrapping ornaments and carefully packing other breakable items, I usually purge things that I no longer want.
For the first day or two, the house looks so bare without the Christmas decorations. And then something amazing happens, once I get everything done, the house looks great—less cluttered and clean. Two situations that make me very happy.
I was thinking about the task of cleaning up the Christmas mess earlier this week, and then God whispered in my soul, “What if you put as much effort into cleaning up the mess in your heart?”
Ouch. And, oh my.
What if we wiped the dust from our Bibles and packed time into our calendars to spend more time talking with Him?
What if we purged the things that are keeping us from being more like God?
What if we cleaned and polished until our hearts and souls sparkled for Him?
As a new year begins, let’s start it with clean hearts that will make God happy. Let’s make this year a time when we serve Him more than we’ve ever done. Our lives will be changed as a result and others will be as well.
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)
