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Cleaning Our Closets

By the first of the year, my kitchen cabinets are a mess. Outdated spices, stale cereal; old cans and jars of unusual things (stuffed cabbage leaves or hot mushroom dip??). You probably have the same problem. I simply must clean those shelves.

But did you know that God also demanded a clean kitchen, although slightly different from ours. Pick up your Bible and read Exodus 12. It is about the first cabinet cleaning in history!

A quick review…..

God told Moses it was time for the Hebrews to leave Egypt. They had been in that land for close to 500 years. Now God himself was going to help them leave. King Pharaoh was about to lose his best help. He had more pyramids to build. He was not going to free those slaves!! God, through his servant Moses, warned Pharaoh that unless he released the people drastic tragedies were about to happen.

You remember the story of the ten plagues? The last one was the worst of all. Every firstborn in the land would die, from the first born of the cattle to the King’s son. The only way for the Hebrews to escape the same fate was to follow the detailed instructions given to them. They were told exactly how to prepare the lamb for a sacrifice. They were told the blood of a perfect baby lamb was to be brushed on the sides and top of the doors. God even gave them instructions on the bread they were to prepare. Every detail was outlined for them. This was to be a memorial feast which was to be kept forever in remembrance of the freedom they were about to receive from God. This was the great sacrifice of the perfect lamb whose blood would save them from the same fate as the Egyptians.

In preparing their bread, God told them that it must be made without yeast. No self rising flour here! Yeast represented sin. Therefore there was to be no yeast in the bread. But not only that, they were to clean their cupboards. Sweep, wipe, dust, and clean again. No yeast was to be found in their homes. In other words, sin was to be swept away.

Yet the real story lays in that perfect little lamb of sacrifice. His blood was given so that when the Lord passed over the homes, He would see the blood of the innocent lamb and the first born child would not die.

Couldn’t God see inside those homes? Didn’t He know who lived there? Why did He insist on that little lamb’s blood? An innocent lamb that had done no wrong would die for others.

This night was to be special in the lives of all people. But this was only the beginning of God’s plan. Thousands of years later, Jesus would become that perfect lamb of sacrifice. His blood makes it possible for us to escape the death which will come upon all people. God will see His blood and “pass over” us just as the Lord passed over those homes with the blood on the doors.

We will live a life pleasing to God, because Jesus became the perfect sacrifice. Believing on Him, also takes away the yeast of sin. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-10 KJV). Of course that can only happen when we accept His sacrifice. We must do what we are told. Just as those early Hebrews had to obey orders we must do the same. It’s not our way but God’s way. Confessing is a necessary part of our forgiveness. And that includes…..

Cleaning out our own “closets.”

This is our part. Yeast removal! Search those dark corners of your life. Sweep, and dust and scrub. Don’t hide the little yeast which you hate to give up. God knows where to find it. Yeast can grow and spread, just like the yeast of that bread in the oven. “A little yeast can leaven the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9).

In other words, it doesn’t take much sin to disturb our life. Just a little. So start your housecleaning today.

Closet cleaning is good for our lives and for our souls…..

—Barbara Hyland, guest writer (see other articles by Barbara on her new blog).