I remember many, many years ago that every spring, my mother did her spring cleaning. It seems that a lot of people on our street did that on the same day or in the same week, as soon as the weather turned nice. There would be blankets on the clotheslines and bedspreads hanging out of bedroom windows. Everything would get washed and aired out after a long winter.

On spring cleaning day when I came home from school, the chairs would be upside down on the dining area table, the furniture away from the walls, and mother was cleaning house. We had a small house, so thankfully, it lasted only one day, or two at the most. It was a time of frustration but also of renewal. The silver was polished and the whole house smelled of furniture wax.

The people of Israel anticipated a time of worship and renewal as they made their way to the temple to celebrate their religious feasts. As they walked, they sang songs of ascents:

Psalm 122:1 – I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go into the house of the Lord." (NKJV)

On Palm Sunday, after Jesus had ridden into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt to the acclaim of the crowds, He and His followers went up to the temple. What a disappointment it must have been for Jesus and those with Him when they arrived and saw that commercial trade had taken over that place of worship. Then, Jesus did something seemingly totally out of character:

Matthew 21:12 – Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. (NKJV)

Jesus decided to put a stop to it; it was time to clean His Father's house.

There is a good lesson in this story for all of us. Just like we clean house every so often, so also we need to clean up our lives. There are times when we need to throw things out — not physical things, but things of the heart: bad thoughts, bad ideas, bad habits, bad opinions of others. Sometimes, we even don't appreciate some of the people in our church. There are times when things of the world hinder our lives of faith.

We need to make a change in our lives and make room for good things: good thoughts, good discussions, good ideas. We need to mend broken relationships.

Psalm 133:1 – How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in peace! (NIRV)

Prayer: Our Father in heaven, there are times in our lives when we don't get along with people, times when we try to avoid them, times when we have bad thoughts about them, or even gossip about them. We earnestly pray, Lord, that You would take evil thoughts away from our hearts. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

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About the author:

Joel Jongkind <austria67@bmts.com>
Meaford, Ontario, Canada
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