Spring Cleaning!

2 Kings 22:14-23:30

Throughout the year, many who own homes or rent apartments, usually accumulate excessive amounts of clothing, tools and equipment, and most notably, dirt and grime. For this reason, “Spring Cleaning” was coined to represent a time when conducting a thorough cleaning of the home, or place of living should, take place. Usually, moms take charge of going through every area of the home, in an effort to get rid of things that have little to no value, then go to work on those areas until they are clean enough to her liking. Children are usually involved in this process, but not to the same extent as mothers.

Keeping things stored that add no value to your living situation, only take up space for things that actually can add value. In most cases of spring cleaning, junk is thrown out, and messy places are renewed to reveal their intended freshness. While living the Christian life, it’s easy to get attached to things that aren’t healthy for our souls, if we aren’t careful. For instance, if you check the hearts of the average believer, I’m almost certain you’ll find one or two items in their “inner man”, that are unhealthy for their spiritual development. Just as mom’s designate times to thoroughly clean their homes, the children of God should do the same to keep their hearts and minds clean, and unspotted from the world. It’s important to take moments during the day to examine whether the things in your life are adding to your growth in godliness, or if they represent something contrary to holy living.

Our text gives a great example of how the process of purifying our souls should be conducted. In the previous lesson, king Josiah heard the word of God for the first time, then was immediately convicted, and sought to make things right. This young man not only intended to turn the hearts of the people toward righteous living, but he literally cleaned out EVERYTHING that brought dishonor to the name of the Lord. Below is a brief list of some of the things Josiah was provoked to put into action:

-burned all vessels that were made for baal
-put down the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and around Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to baal, the sun, and to the moon, planets, and hosts of heaven
-burned all the wooden images in the house of the Lord, until they were like powder
-broke down the houses of the sodomites near the house of the Lord, where women wove decorations for the graven images
-defiled all high places where the priests burned incense
-removed horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, then burned the chariots of the sun with fire
-beat down and brake all altars made by the evil kings of Judah
-defiled all the abominations built by king Solomon -broke in pieces all the graven images, and filled their places with the bones of men

To what extent do you go, to keep your heart clean before the Lord?