My mom hates spiders.
Hates.
Loathes.
She despises and fears them. She does not accommodate spiders at all.
It’s quite funny.
If she sees a spider she’ll scream loudly and wake up the entire neighborhood.
Spiders do bite and they have venom and none of us want to ever come even a mile from a brown recluse.
This month (at the time of this blog post) is October and there are pumpkins, skeletons, ghosts and creepy decorations all over the neighborhood- including yes, spiders and spider webs.
I live in a neighborhood with old-growth trees and vines and I have noticed more spiders lately.
I have cleaned a few webs in my home because where there is a web, you know a spider lives nearby too.
I thought spiders make their homes in dark places like attics, barns, garages or around trash cans. This is not the only place spiders congregate. They can get cozy in your home- in plain sight.
I was pondering this the other day and I thought about the stigma spider webs have “inside” a home. You imagine the homeowner who never dusts, never cleans or doesn’t even move around much in the home.
This is not true at all. I have an entryway that is one of the most frequently used areas of the home and yet high in a corner- there is a spider web.
The Lord has been teaching me a lot about pruning. In John 15, He reminds us He is the vine and we are the branches. If we stay connected to Jesus and allow Him to care for us, water us, grow us and yes also prune us, then we will bear much fruit.
Back to spider webs...
Spider webs are unsightly and again they make your house look “unkept” or neglected. In this spooky season people think spider webs are even kind of creepy and they are associated with fears and fright.
Jesus is the vine, but He is also our housekeeper.
"Not so Lord!" You may say
"Please do not come over and clean my house! Oh no Jesus! Don’t look under the bed! Don't Jesus please look in that messy cupboard. Please Jesus don't peek around my porch, under the sink, by the toilet or around the trash cans! It’s yucky there! King Jesus-you are my guest!"
You see when guests enter my home I want the guests to relax, enjoy food, talk with the family and just be comfortable.
As you read and study Jesus in the Gospels, you will notice Jesus always always cleans house!
He corrects you (like the Mary and Martha story)
He sits with you in your home (like Zachaeus)
He eats with you and spends the early mornings and late nights with you (like with the 3 years with the disciples)
He’ll turn over the money tables (and check for spiders- just kidding!!)
He’ll wash feet and then .... He’ll even allow you to wash His feet with your tears.
Home=intimancy.
Jesus is the real deal and He won’t let spider webs interrupt His time with you. Jesus is so holy and pure He won’t ignore the spider webs either. He’ll grab a towel or dust wand and get rid of each and every spider web.
Why?
Jesus loves us.
Jesus is not content with a partially clean house or a partially clean heart... (Psalm 51)
He wants it all ...Jesus wants you. Jesus wants you to give Him the corners and messy spots of your heart, but He desires you to give Him access to these areas willingly...
Having someone offer to clean your home or offer to tidy an area that you have neglected is a little bit uncomfortable and might be downright embarrassing...
We need to let Jesus clean.
We need to give God all the keys to the house.
We need to give Jesus all of the passwords to our phone our Internet our computer and any other device we have.
You see, as humans, we can ignore those cobwebs or spiderwebs....
We can say it’s not really a big deal.
Since God is holy, He won't let those sinful areas build up.
God is pure.
God is beautiful.
God is awesome and He is the master gardener and housekeeper and He's the architect and designer of our life.
I pray when we are in a pruning season, we would allow Him to take the swiffer, grab the vacuum, take the pledge can and any cleaning tool He desires, and scrub away all of the things in our hearts and in our lives that are not pleasing to Him.
Like the entryway of my house, there might be spiderwebs in plain sight that Jesus wants to get rid of. We need to get over ourselves, yield to Him and let Him do the cleaning.
I pray this encourages you to not be embarrassed by those "dusty" spider web areas of your life or heart but to recognize that Jesus wants these areas too.
He wants to prune us, clean us, and finally to present us as a spotless bride radiant and prepared for His Father. (Eph 5:27)
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