“Deep Cleaning The Soul”

Sunday, February 18, 2018

The experience is common in which we begin work on a particular problem and a deeper problem is discovered. Sometimes a minor surgical procedure leads to the discovery of a dangerous, previously unknown disease. Sometimes a home repair which seems minor leads to an expensive overhaul of plumbing, electrical, or foundations. Even a routine pickup of a room can reveal the need for a second-level deep clean when we begin to see dirt more clearly than we had before.

The apostle Paul encouraged the Corinthian Christians to, “examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” (2 Cor. 13:5). When we follow instructions like that, we very often discover that our problems are far deeper than we had initially expected.

Maybe an effort to work on our continual fearfulness and anxiety reveals the underlying grime of selfishness. Maybe the beginning stages of work on a problem of continual irritability reveals the contaminating poison of pride at a deeper level of the heart. Maybe it is and effort to lesses some indulgent spending that reveals an embarrassing lack of self-control which has henceforth just been swept under the rug.

Does all of that mean that we should not examine ourselves so we do not find these problems? That’s tempting, but it is unbiblical. Do not avoid the examination and all its accompanying baggage; embrace it! Just be ready to confess your sins—on both levels. That’s the only way that the first-level cleaning gets done, and it is the only way that a soul can get to that second-level deep cleaning that we so desperately need.

The Lord has laid claim on the whole heart of any who will surrender to him. We should expect that will lead all of us to some deep cleaning of the soul.

- Dan Lankford, minister

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