In the Dailies

This week I cleaned out the fridge. Oh, yes, that all-time favorite of activities. I couldn’t put it off any longer. We had been gone since before Christmas, and I needed some place to put the new groceries I bought that morning. Normally I do this horrendous task before going on vacation. That way I come home to sparkling shelves and less work. But a snowstorm blew in and forced us to leave earlier than planned. So this week I tackled a job that should have been tackled weeks ago.

Guess what I found. I found that I actually should have tackled it months ago. Apparently I’ve been spot-cleaning the fridge rather than doing a full-blown clean sweep. I found chocolate soy milk that expired in August. I found salad dressing that expired January of last year and some goat cheese that could rival a seventh grade science project.

You see, we don’t normally consume those items. They’re once in a while groceries purchase for special recipes or a rare treat. For months they rested peacefully next to the Mango Curry Marinade we tried last summer, agreed we didn’t like, but still kept in the fridge in case we changed our minds.

As I removed these expired foods and scrubbed the sticky messes they left behind, I thought about other areas of life untended. What parts of my heart have been ignored long enough that they’ve festered into a nasty, gooey scene in need of some cleaning? This could apply to sins, but also to good things left untouched. What sins am I preserving while rationalizing their existence in my heart? Are there gifts I’ve ignored? Talents I’ve allowed to sit idle until they’re no longer useful? Have God-given opportunities expired?

Oh, Lord, search me! Show me what I need to see that I may clean out the recesses of my heart. I want to please You. I want to shine for You. I want to use all of me for Your glory that I may taste the blessings You have in store for those who love You.

“But blessed is the man who trusts me, God,
the woman who sticks with God.
They’re like trees replanted in Eden,
putting down roots near the rivers—
Never a worry through the hottest of summers,
never dropping a leaf,
Serene and calm through droughts,
bearing fresh fruit every season.

“The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful,
a puzzle that no one can figure out.
But I, God, search the heart
and examine the mind.
I get to the heart of the human.
I get to the root of things.
I treat them as they really are,
not as they pretend to be.”
– Jeremiah 17:7-10
(The Message)