Deep Cleaning

When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.
(Luke 11:24-26)

Thought For Today: 
My wife loves to clean our house. Sometimes it's just a quick sweep of the floor or dusting to remove the dust and dirt she can see.  But other times, when she wants to do a deep cleaning, she gets down on her hands and knees with a solution and a bucket of hot water to reach into the corners and hidden places and remove dirt, grime, and scuff marks from the floor.

This is how it is with some people and their sins. They have only swept the floor.  They have only removed what others could see from the outside.  They've just swept up a little dust.  They have not gotten on their knees to get into the hidden corners of their lives.  This is why the devil finds it swept and all decorated, but there has been no deep cleaning done, and he's easily able to get back into that life. This is why many folks can leave church, go right back to the bars, and hang out with their same old worldly friends. They haven't gotten on their knees to do a deep cleaning. Just sweeping the floor and decorating doesn't mean there isn't still filth there.  You can paint the outside of the house, but if you don't scrape off the old paint, the new paint will only last until the old paint underneath begins to wear through and peel off, and then the house looks a mess. If you truly want sin out of your life, do a deep cleaning. That requires you to kneel at an altar in prayer. "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death" (2 Corinthians 7:10).