deep clean: n. Any thorough cleansing, especially one conducted in order to disinfect a place that has or may have been contaminated with a disease vector such as a virus, bacteria, etc.
I have begun a deep clean of my home, though more thorough than disinfectant. After over nineteen years of tending the gardens and cleaning the homes of others, it is my turn. “Retired” is now my official title. With that title comes both the time and the energy to address the dirt and clutter throughout my own dwelling.
This is not going to be one of those quick Swiffer pass-through jobs. It won’t be “a lick and a promise” with a dust cloth as Mom directed on Sunday mornings before we headed off to church because company was coming for dinner.
It will be a “Leave no stone unturned” kind of task as I go deep into corners that have not seen the light of day nor cleaning solution for years. Items will be pulled out and cleaned before returning to their home. Piles will be made of things to keep, give away, or discard.
In preparation, I pulled my vacuum and cleaning supplies out of my truck this morning. I have stored them there for years. It was easier to have them available when I had a cleaning job, and I wasn’t forever moving things in and out of my house.
When I was asked to clean up a large garden area, I always began in the furthest corner and worked towards the house. I’m methodical about some things, and that is often how I address a job. And so, I started in a corner of the living room, a corner no one sees or notices—except me. I was amazed at the amount of filth that had accumulated.
There is a real sense of
accomplishment when a person does something that has been left undone for quite some time. It "feels" good. This cleaning process isn’t going to happen in a few hours, a day, a
week, or maybe even months. I will, however, go bit by bit until it is completed. I began today.
This physical deep clean reminds me of what God does spiritually. He begins in the most hidden crevices of our inner beings, those areas we don’t want anyone to see or know about. He pores into the dark caverns within us. His very presence is like the head lantern on a spelunker. Secrets are revealed and, at His hand, dealt with one-at-a-time, one-on-one.
As with my home, a thorough inner cleaning takes time—a lengthy period of time. But it is priceless. And it is important. God's desire for us is that we live in purity, a life unencumbered by garbage. A clean spiritual home is a better way--His way.
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139: 23, 24