Dustpan and broom or dust blower

Have you ever moved a piece of furniture only to be mortified by the huge volume of dust bunnies collected under it? I have and let me tell you - I had no idea how 'out of control' they had become! What allows the dust bunnies to collect? Isn't it the darkness? We don't see them, so we don't think about them. They were covered by something that allowed them to 'get out of control'. In the darkest places, they could multiply unnoticed. Furniture now moved - they are exposed. They have to be dealt with now, don't they? We don't just push the object back over them and ignore them - we break out the broom and dustpan, the mop and pail, or the vacuum. They have to be gone before we move anything back into that space. Is any wonder that sin can get a bit out of control in our lives when we ignore those dark places where it can multiply unnoticed?

God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him. If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin. If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—simply come clean about them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God. (I John 1:5-10)

When we 'enter into' relationship with God, we are entering in light. What has once been 'covered over' by heavy stuff isn't covered any longer. There is no longer a place for those 'dust bunnies' of our selfish or foolish pursuits to exist and multiply. Sin must be exposed because pure light is revealing it - there are no hiding places where pure light exists. Not a trace of darkness can be found in relationship with Christ Jesus - only places of light - places of hope and health in our inner man. We no longer stumble around in the dark, hoping none of our 'dust bunnies' will be noticed. In fact, God takes special care to move all that stuff out of the way that has become 'hiding places' for our sinful deeds - foolishness is about to be 'swept up' and no longer 'swept under the carpet'.

I admitted I have dust bunnies - that is the first step to getting them cleaned up. If we want to actually enjoy a life free of sin, we need to admit we have some places where light hasn't actually been able to penetrate for a long, long time. It is time to 'move the furniture' in our lives so light can actually do its work of exposing. Then we have to allow the broom and dustpan to begin the work of removing the debris that exists in those hidden places in our lives. If you want to liken the broom and dustpan to something 'spiritual', you might think of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. Each do their work of rounding up those 'dust bunnies' in our lives and ridding us of them once and for all. 

Have you ever used a yard blower? One thing I noticed about those objects is the extreme amount of force they exert to move the objects in front of them. Leaves go flying and dust is raised in wafts all around the one using that device. In truth, all it does is leave the dust in a brand new place! It never really removes the dust - it just upends it from where it was and moves it to a new location. How silly would it be to use a dust blower in our homes? We might have a crumb free floor in the kitchen, but did it remove the stains from dribbled coffee? We also now have crumbs in the living room because they had to go somewhere - they didn't just disappear! I don't know about you, but I want those crumbs gone, not just moved. Just sayin!