In Which I Clean My Dyson and Ponder Being the Temple

We read about it this morning on our Jesus Calling perpetual calendar for kids. How we’re the temple, the indwelling of the Spirit, the place where Creator God has chosen to reside.

So today as I’m trying to make a literal sweep of the last few hard days by cleaning my dirty floors and wondering how on earth four little people can wreak such havoc upon such a small space, I’m struck by the realization that even temples get dirty sometimes and need a good housecleaning.

I think the revelation really came when I had to give up on sucking up the dust and crayon bits and dried gummies from under the couch because the vacuum just simply wasn’t going to do it anymore. I resigned myself to a chore I hate, a chore that should not even exits, because excuse me, but why in the world is a vacuum not self cleaning?

And I took apart our refurbished Dyson on the hope that even though there’s a hole in the hose, if I give it a good cleaning, surely it will continue to function. The thought I just couldn’t get past was this–the very appliance that is designed to clean my house gets grimy and dirty and just plain nasty doing that job. Even though I might be left with less grime in my carpet, there’s filth inside the very item that did that cleaning. And if I ignore that, eventually I’m left with something that can’t perform the job it’s intended for.

Lightbulb moment.

I’m full of filth and grime and there’s dust clogging up my heart and soul on a regular basis. Yet, I’m claiming to be a place where Christ is. I’m good at cleaning up the outside and making myself presentable to others. I’m good at words that encourage and suppers that feed new mamas and putting my name on the list of volunteers.

I’m good at helping clean up others.

But I’m not keeping it up inside myself. Every now and then I need to be taken apart–just like that Dyson–and given a good rinse. The beautiful comes when I realize that once I’m apart, I need to be put back together to work. To function. To fulfill my calling.

And none of those good deeds or encouraging words are capable of reassembling my parts.

And I’m not self-cleaning.

But there is One who lives inside me. There is One who wants me to be the very best I can be as a home for His love, His grace, His mercy. So He cleanses. He restores.

He puts me back together and He will do so over and over and again and again because we’re never capable of helping to clean others without getting a little dirt on ourselves.

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