Spring Cleaning

"Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1

While doing some much needed spring cleaning on our back lanai, I walked head on into one of the things that terrifies me most - a spider web. Well, it's not so much the web that I find horrifying, as it is the creature hovering somewhere out of my vision, just waiting to drop onto an exposed shoulder, my cheek, or even worse...the very top of my head (indeed, a perilous thought for someone with curly hair).

At first, I was frozen in terror, sheer panic washing over me. I could feel prickly, damp heat rising on the back of my neck in those few seconds it took for me to realize what had happened. Then, all of a sudden, the realization of what had occurred was upon me, and then it began. Initially, it was a small gasping noise, which grew into a sort of bird squawk, then erupting into full blown shrieks. I flailed, I spun wildly, I karate kicked the air...the entire time, my mind repeating, "Get it off me! Get it off me! Get it off me!"

After what was surely less than a minute - but felt like an eternity - I was free, loose from the web's evil, cotton candy hold, and swinging wildly with a broom. Out, out, spider web!

Sin, for me, is like that spider web. We may do some "spring cleaning" in our spiritual life, to get a cleaner path to follow Jesus on. Straighten up the crooks, narrow the wide portions, remove the dust bunnies to get a clear perspective. But there are some sins that remain, hidden in the deepest corners, much like those spider webs. They hang on, sometimes unnoticed and sometimes purposely ignored, until we become so entangled in their web, it seems impossible to get out. We may have to fight long and hard, and it may take more than just one "cleaning session" to rid these webs, but it's a battle worth taking on.

Once we are free from these tangled webs, we are free to continue following where God is leading us, living out His plan for us not only to grow closer in our relationship, but to continue furthering his kingdom, and helping others where they may need a little "spring cleaning" as well.

Loving Father, give us the strength and determination to rid the things that entangle us, keeping us wrapped up in the world instead of You. Help us to remove the webs, clear the dust and see the path You have given us to follow. Amen.