It’s the week after Christmas and the last week of the year 2010. For some it is a week of sad goodbyes as all the parties are over and the friends and family will stop being together. For others it is a relief from keeping up with the expectations of the season while secretly ignoring the pain that wells up this time of year as they feel the losses of what you are supposed to have. Everyone has some cleanup to do, whether in the house after company or in the soul after the distractions.

This week between Christmas and the New Year is a great time to think about how you have been living and how you wish to live in the coming year. While you are considering how to clean up after the season of Christmas, take this week to pause and think about where you can clean up your soul.

I don’t mean to imply that you alone have the power to clean your soul. This isn’t a job meant for you to do in your flesh. Jesus advises that soul-cleaning best happens when you come to Him (Matt 11:28-30). Isn’t that a relief? Christmas cleanup may mean backbreaking labor, but soul cleanup means laboring to be still. Sometimes working to take time to sit and be quiet with God is much more work.

Cleaning up my soul starts by asking the Holy Spirit to open my heart, mind and spirit to the messes I may have made in my soul. I need God to show me where to focus; otherwise it could get too overwhelming. I usually like to consider all the people in my life and how they could clean up their souls a bit. That won’t help me either. This time is for me to sit quietly and willingly before God and ask him the same questions King David did in Psalm 51:10-12:

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

I want these same realities to happen in my soul. I want to have a steadfast spirit, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and to have constant joy of my salvation and a willing spirit for the new year. Do you? David shows us how to get a clean soul in Psalm 51. He sat before God and let God show him what was in his soul. He got immediate results as his life was restored even though he suffered great consequences in the death of his child because of his sin. King David’s life points to the real need for soul-cleaning. He was not a perfect king, but he left a lasting legacy in being a King who had a heart for God and recognized his mistakes. He became the father of His Lord through the birth of Jesus Christ.

Soul-cleaning was part of the victory he had as a King and worshipper of God Almighty. Use his Psalm to lead you through the process of asking God for a clean soul. This week is the perfect time for soul cleanup.