I’ve just been cleaning down our back deck which faces a stand of tall trees. Not only that, it  doesn’t get the morning sun but only the late afternoon sun  through the trees. As a result, it gets covered with leaves and if left too long, covered in a green gunge as well. I have found that a bleach helps to get the black mould off (with plenty of scrubbing!), and so it is looking pristine clean after this time around. Perhaps one reason that it gets left, is that it is at the back of the house, and no one sees it for long periods of time!

     But while I was scrubbing it down with a broom,  it reminded me of how like our lives, this deck is. Just as it needs constant cleaning, so we need to keep our spirit and soul cleaned regularly before God. The bleach which gets into all the little grooves in the deck makes it all clean and shiny, so this reminds us that it is the work of God’s Holy Spirit in our lives and minds, that reminds us of things which need to be confessed and put right.

    Because it is in the shade for so long each day, the moss and mould begins to grow and make it messy. So we need the constant light of daily Bible readings to keep the moss in our minds at bay. We might think it is too hard to understand, but remember, that just as a sieve doesn’t hold the water in it, the constant washing under the tap keeps it clean. So even if we don’t understand some of it, other things will stick and help keep our minds in the right direction.

    There is nothing like a good clean up to make that back deck look lovely and a joy to behold. So those who keep their lives on the right tracks will be a joy and a help to all those around, to say nothing of having the satisfaction of being in the right relationship with the God of Heaven.