Time to Clean House: Heart Edition

I cleaned our bathroom.  I know that’s a really odd way to start a blog post, but those four words pack a lot of punch.  I.  Cleaned.  Our.  Bathroom.  I would like to tell you that this is something I do often.  I’d like to pretend that my house is spotless and our bathrooms stay sparkly clean.  But Jesus and I both know that I’d be lying.  I partake in the occasional swipe with the toilet brush when things get gross and the quick wipe down of sinks when I see more white from dried toothpaste spit than I see sink.  But a deep clean… well, it just doesn’t happen often.  There, I said it.  I am a poor house cleaner.

But last Saturday was the day.  I spent hours scrubbing that bathroom.  The worst part was the shower.  Two of the walls are glass and they are a “pane” in my behind.  Those glass walls can so easily get cloudy with soap scum.  Then I put off cleaning them because it takes so long!  However, now that the hard part is over, I’m so delighted!  Every time I walk into the bathroom and flip on the light, I am greeted with sparkling glass shower walls I can actually see through.  And now that they are clean, we are working hard to keep them that way.  That little squeegee that hangs in our shower has been put to work. Those annoying screeching sounds of the squeegee are worth it, knowing that it is preventing a wall of soup scum we can’t see through.

At this point, you may be wondering where on earth I’m going with this, but I promise, there is a connection.  As I was thinking about how long it’s been since I’ve done a deep clean of my shower, I thought about how long some people go without a deep clean of their heart.  When was the last time you just sat and took inventory of your heart?  Where are you?  Is your heart spiritually healthy and in good shape, or does it need to be cleaned up?  Is your heart in need of a deep clean, or just a quick wash because you’ve been cleaning as you go?

I’ve been meditating on Psalm 139 lately.  I love that chapter!  Sometimes, I read the whole thing before I dive into my Bible reading plan.  Sometimes, I just recite verses 23-24.  I’ve committed them to memory because I need them to help me take inventory and clean out my heart and mind.

Search me, God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts. 

See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:23-24

When I ask God to search me and know my heart, to test me and know my anxious thoughts, and to see if there is any offensive way in me, I am instinctively checking my heart, considering my anxious thoughts, and reflecting on my sins.  It’s a gut check- or rather a heart, mind, and soul check.  If I went as long without a heart, mind, and soul check as I’ve gone without deep cleaning my shower, I would have a filthy heart on my hands.  Just like the soap scum builds up on our glass shower walls, sin, selfishness, unforgiveness, and worldly focus (among so many other impurities) can build up on my heart.  

I don’t do Instagram very often, but I found @thefaithfilledtherapist on there and she has been incredibly encouraging. Recently, I listened to her podcast episode, “The God Given Power of Self Reflection”.  It reminded me that meditating on Psalm 139:23-24 and entering into self-reflection helps me clean out my heart and focus on what’s important.

What if we asked these reflection questions centered around Psalm 139:

1. When God searches my heart, what does He find?  What do I want him to find?

2. When God hears my anxious thoughts, what does He hear?  What do I want Him to hear?

3. When God looks for offensive ways in me, what does He see?  What do I want Him to see?

4. If I’m walking in the way everlasting that He’s leading me in, what does my next step look like?

I’m here to tell you, I’m not disciplined enough (yet) to reflect on these questions daily.  But when I do ask these questions of myself, it grounds me.  This reflection takes me back to who I am and who I want to be.  They remind me of what’s important and the road I want to travel with Jesus.  

Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”  The word guard comes from the Hebrew word that means watch, keep, preserve, guard from dangers.  If you focused intently on preserving your spiritual heart and keeping it from danger, how would your day look different?  What would you watch, read, listen to, do, say, feel?  Let that sit for a moment.  Then think about everything we do flowing from our heart.  Do we have good things flowing from a good heart?  Or do we have some cleaning we need to do.

This blog post is not about cleaning your bathroom- although it is extremely satisfying and I would highly encourage it.  This post is about checking our heart, cleaning our heart, and guarding our heart.  Some of us need to keep getting that squeegee out for some routine cleaning.  Some of us need to get out the heavy-duty scrubber!  Either way, there’s no better time to start on our heart than now.