When a group leaves Sabine Creek Ranch the staff has to "deep clean" everything. We have to sweep, mop, vacuum, and wipe down everything in order to get things ready for the next camp to come along soon after. One of the tasks that the staff spends most of their time on is the cabins because there's so much to do. There's mattresses to wipe down, floors to sweep and mop/vacuum, bathrooms to disinfect, and supplies to restock. It takes a lot of people and a lot of time to make cabins ready for the next group to come in.
The worst part of cleaning cabins for me is the end. Someone in authority has to come in and make sure we did a good job. If we didn't, we would have to go back and redo some things. If we did do a good job, we could take the rest of the day off.
One particular cleaning day I was feeling really good about my cleaning group that I was in charge of. We did a really good job on a difficult cabin (Horton Lodges had waxed cement floors that acted as a magnet to dead grass). We had checks and balances in place to make sure we weren't going to be that group that had to reclean.
When the time came to have our cabin checked off I was really nervous. My friend, Lizzie, was checking our cabin off because she was known to have an eye for detail. She looked under the bunk beds, on top of every mattress, inside the toilets, and inspected every curious spot of the floor. It was intense. There were things that didn't measure up to the appropriate standard of cleanliness that I had to redo. There were parts of the floor that needed more sweeping, so Lizzie grabbed a broom and swept dead grass into my dustpan on occasion.
The whole process was nerve wracking for me. I didn't want her to think less of me because the quality of work wasn't what it should have been. I was really overwhelmed by the slew of emotions so I prayed. In that moment I realized that cleanliness is a demonstration of God's character in us. God is very much about being clean, being holy. Leviticus shows us that He can't be around sin or unclean things. In order for us to be with Him, we have to be clean as well. God reminded me that He has to clean my heart in order for Him to reside in it. Just as hard as Lizzie was working to make sure that the cabin was clean, God does the same within myself. He was giving me a clear picture of what it's like for God to come inside me and "clean house."
There were a couple of things I noticed about the way things worked. Lizzie didn't just show me what needed to be done and then command me to go do it. She communicated what wasn't ok, and then cleaned WITH me. God doesn't just tell me what isn't ok with my life and then leave me to deal with it. He doesn't tell me I'm dirty and then leave me to figure out how to clean up. He grabs a broom (if I'm willing to let Him clean that is), shows me what needs to be swept up, and sweeps it up while I hold the dustpan. Even though it's never God's mess to clean up, He always helps me clean up my messes.
Lizzie also didn't cut any corners. She didn't ignore things she thought should have been done better just for the sake of comfort or ease. Neither does God. He's really serious about holiness and won't cut corners in my life just because "it will hurt" or "it will take more effort than is comfortable." There's a standard of holiness that God has to keep and that's why He's serious about holiness in my life. He loves me and wants to be a part of it. He's serious about it because He wants to stick around.
I'm so grateful for conviction and repentance. Not only does it show that God wants me to be like Him and have a better life, but it also communicates love. He cares enough about me to show me the things that need to be cleaned so that He can reside in me as much as He can.
Leviticus 11:45, "I am the LORD, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy."
