“Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb 10:22, NIV).
After a long, grey, cold winter, many people are excited about the joy and glories of spring. Spring ushers in a season of rebirth and a warm embrace of life, as snow is replaced with grass, ice is replaced with new buds and dreariness gives way to sunshine and warm breezes.
Many people look forward to spring as a time to declutter the cabinets, put away the winter gear and spruce up the old homestead with fresh paint after a good cleaning. Like spring cleaning, spiritual cleansing requires deep, surface penetrating cleansing. This type of cleansing is a rejuvenation of the spirit, like house spring cleaning, but goes beyond what other people can easily detected with the five senses.
It’s a cleansing from within manifested outwardly and inwardly. As with spring cleaning, neighbors will remark that the exterior and interior of our homes have taken on a new luster of cleanliness. Similarly, as we engage in spiritual cleansing, your inward man gets cleaner, your language more faith affirming and your outward man begins to show the inner changes. People will soon see the difference.
If you find that you are tired of a drab, unfulfilled spiritual life, in this season of rejuvenation, be mindful of the Word of the Lord, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom 12:2, NIV).
As believers it is easy to get depressed because of politics, career life, disobedient children, strained marriages and other cares of this life. If you are still in a “winter funk” or feel spiritually fatigued but are ready to move forward, embrace spiritual cleansing. Usually, when an object attracts dirt or grime, the object is still perfectly intact. The object simply requires a cleansing to essentially bring back the hidden luster or shine.
If we, who belong to Christ, feel dirty because of hidden sins or unforgiving spirits, the Word of God encourages us to confess our sin – tell someone, and reach up and out for help. When your spiritual mind experiences a cleansing, the heaviness and grime from hidden sin will wash away and this seemingly insurmountable burden will be lifted.
When we get into a habit of focusing on what the Lord says, we find the cleansing experience gets easier. It is easier to declutter a house that is occasionally messy or untidy as opposed to one that is neglected and inordinately filthy. Constant cleansing prevents the buildup of unnecessary dirt both spiritually and naturally. And for those who doubt the power of confession, remember, “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’—and you forgave the guilt of my sin” (Ps 32:3-5, NIV).
I love a clean house. The only thing better than a clean house, is a clean mind. If we embrace daily spiritual cleansing, no matter what the season, it will bring satisfaction and joy unspeakable. We will then be able to say like the Psalmist, “Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, ‘The LORD has done great things for them’” (Ps 126:2, NIV).
Elder Jerome Woods, II is the husband of Alana M. Woods and is the son of the late Jerome Woods, Sr. and Larina Woods. He is a Washington, D.C. native and associate Elder at High Calling Ministries pastored by George W. Hawkins, Jr. Elder Woods is a graduate of The George Washington University (1994) where he received his Bachelor of Arts in English Literature with minors in Sociology and Latin Classical Humanities. Elder Woods received his Juris Doctorate in 1997 from The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law.
