Spic and Span in the Light!

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 ESV

I love sunshine! After a long, harsh winter, I rejoice every time I see the sun, even if only for a few minutes. My husband likes it too. He loves to see our house flooded with sunshine, so he usually opens up all the blinds as soon as there is but the faintest sign that the sun may appear outside. I also like to see the house flooded with sunlight…most of the time…that is. There is one instance when I absolutely do not like it…the day we have company. Why not? Well, because the sunshine is the worst enemy of the lousy housekeeper.

So, what do I do the day that the sun happens to decide to shine and we have company? As I walk downstairs and see the rays of sunshine coming into my house through the blinds like thousands of fingers pointing at the dirt and grime all around the floor, tables and cupboards, I do what any sensible person would do…I quickly shut all the blinds tightly again.

I don’t want to be reminded of how horrible I am as a homemaker. The guilt is too much to bear.

As I began to think more about this, the thought of Jesus as the Light of the World jumped at me. Without His light, my life would truly be sunk in the deepest and thickest darkness imaginable. However, I often close the windows of my soul shut and sit in the dark. Why? So I don’t see the grime in my heart.

Shame and guilt overtake me because I forget that, unlike the light of the sun hitting the dirt in my house, Jesus doesn’t shine His light to force me to grab all my Swiffer gadgets and disinfectants to make my home spic and span on my own. Jesus’ Light points at my sin to remind me and to tell me that He can take care of it all. 

With His Light Jesus moves us to repentance and to the point where we accept that we cannot clean the mess we’ve made of our lives by ourselves. He points out the immensity of our sin to then show us His scarred hands and feet which were pierced by our transgression, and to remind us that by His wounds, we are healed and cleansed. And the best part is that once He cleans us from the inside out, He remembers the mess no more.

He doesn’t want us to shut Him out because we are ashamed. He wants us to let His Light shine brightly in us to show the world that He is the Only One who can clean up the mess we have created, so others can also come to Him as they see Him at work in us. So rather than feeling guilty as His Light points at my sin, I want to rejoice that He is willing to cleanse even me. 

No matter how terrible a housekeeper I am, I’m going to try to not be afraid of the sunshine for I rather live in the light and know that His precious blood covers all my dirt, than dwell in the darkness that corrodes and eats away my soul and my joy.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7 ESV