It's officially spring time, and here in the South the trees are budding, azaleas are blooming, and pollen is painting every surface that stands still for longer than five minutes. It also means a major holiday is around the corner.
Passover begins two weeks from tomorrow, at sundown April 8. It's probably safe to say that most of you aren't counting down the days to this holiday. But I am. Yet, unlike children eagerly tracking the passing days until Christmas when Santa Claus arrives with gifts, this working mom is hearing the loud ticking of a large life-cycle clock whose chime reminds me that I have x number of days remaining -- to get my entire home cleaned and kosher for Passover. Think of it as spring cleaning on a deadline.
So why is this such a monumental task in my mind? The world is full of women (or even some men, in this 21st century) who accomplish the annual cleaning of their house or apartment from top to bottom. Some women, like my mother, actually cherish this ritual. Unfortunately, I was never one of them. (Picture my Italian mother waving her hands in the air, moaning, "Where did I go wrong?")
For me, housework has always been a chore, pure and simple. Adding the annual duties of scrubbing walls and windows, scouring (kashering, for those in the know) all kitchen appliances, and moving furniture to get every last crumb vacuumed up can be overwhelming to this busy woman! But I take a deep breath, pull on the rubber gloves, and get to the task because Scripture commands it to be done.
In preparation for the first Passover, the Lord told Moses to instruct the Israelites not only to eat unleavened bread, but also to remove all leaven (yeast or leavening agents like baking powder) from their homes. "Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses; for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land" (Exodus 12:19). He spoke to Moses a second time and said, "Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters" (Exodus 13:7).
One may think that ridding a home of leaven would be an easy task. It isn't. Sure, the first things to go are the bread, biscuits, bagels, cookies, etc. No brainer, right? But do you realize how many of our modern day food products contain yeast? Every year I review the ingredient label of every packaged food product in my home, checking for yeast or baking powder. One year, I discovered that packaged onion soup contains autolyzed yeast. Hmm... And, here's a shocker -- there's yeast in some brands of frozen french fries. Who would've thought? Over the years, I've discovered that yeast sure hides in some pretty surprising places.
Which got me to thinking. The apostle Paul used Passover as an analogy and compared leaven with sin. In I Corinthians 5:7-8, he said, "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Messiah our Passover is sacrified for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice or wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." And just like natural leaven or yeast which can be hidden in surprising foods, sin can hide in some pretty surprising places in our hearts. No wonder King David prayed to the Lord, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalms 139:23-24). For there is no one that can reveal our hearts the way the Lord can.
A few years ago, while I was doing my pre-Passover cleaning, I was pulling cushions off the couch in order to vacuum under them. I remember wondering how all those crumbs could possibly fall between the cushions like that. I thought the same about crumbs behind the furniture and in other odd places. So much work to remove such tiny pieces of bread or cake or cookies. Which got me thinking about the leaven/sin connection again. Some sins can seem so tiny, like careless words or prideful thoughts that embed themselves within the comfort of our lives. But no matter how tiny they are, they still contain leaven and must be removed. And usually, it's what we consider the tiny sins -- those hidden from view and unknown to guests -- that take the longest to remove because they are such a part of our daily living.
I'm in my 40's now, and I still dislike many of the chores that are part of spring cleaning. But over the years the Lord has taught me many things while doing it. He's helped me to see the bigger picture -- beyond the bleach and boiling water, beyond the vacuum cleaner and removal of food items. I've come to realize that making my home kosher for Passover is really a spiritual act. With every task I perform to remove leaven from my home, I am to examine my life and heart and compare it to the standard of God's word. Am I truly living as the unleavened bread Messiah calls us to be? When I break that matzah (unleavened bread) at the Passover seder and taste that which represents His broken body (ref: Luke 22:19), can I truly say that I am broken before Him? By the power of His Spirit, I know He can help me to answer yes.
Now, as the life-cycle clock once again starts ticking off the days and hours to Passover, I know that it is my time to reflect, as well as to clean, and to remove all leaven from my heart as well as my home. So, the rubber gloves are coming out, the furniture is being moved, and corners of my home -- and my heart -- are being searched. I'm preparing for Passover, inside and out.
Passover begins two weeks from tomorrow, at sundown April 8. It's probably safe to say that most of you aren't counting down the days to this holiday. But I am. Yet, unlike children eagerly tracking the passing days until Christmas when Santa Claus arrives with gifts, this working mom is hearing the loud ticking of a large life-cycle clock whose chime reminds me that I have x number of days remaining -- to get my entire home cleaned and kosher for Passover. Think of it as spring cleaning on a deadline.
So why is this such a monumental task in my mind? The world is full of women (or even some men, in this 21st century) who accomplish the annual cleaning of their house or apartment from top to bottom. Some women, like my mother, actually cherish this ritual. Unfortunately, I was never one of them. (Picture my Italian mother waving her hands in the air, moaning, "Where did I go wrong?")
For me, housework has always been a chore, pure and simple. Adding the annual duties of scrubbing walls and windows, scouring (kashering, for those in the know) all kitchen appliances, and moving furniture to get every last crumb vacuumed up can be overwhelming to this busy woman! But I take a deep breath, pull on the rubber gloves, and get to the task because Scripture commands it to be done.
In preparation for the first Passover, the Lord told Moses to instruct the Israelites not only to eat unleavened bread, but also to remove all leaven (yeast or leavening agents like baking powder) from their homes. "Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses; for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land" (Exodus 12:19). He spoke to Moses a second time and said, "Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters" (Exodus 13:7).
One may think that ridding a home of leaven would be an easy task. It isn't. Sure, the first things to go are the bread, biscuits, bagels, cookies, etc. No brainer, right? But do you realize how many of our modern day food products contain yeast? Every year I review the ingredient label of every packaged food product in my home, checking for yeast or baking powder. One year, I discovered that packaged onion soup contains autolyzed yeast. Hmm... And, here's a shocker -- there's yeast in some brands of frozen french fries. Who would've thought? Over the years, I've discovered that yeast sure hides in some pretty surprising places.
Which got me to thinking. The apostle Paul used Passover as an analogy and compared leaven with sin. In I Corinthians 5:7-8, he said, "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Messiah our Passover is sacrified for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice or wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." And just like natural leaven or yeast which can be hidden in surprising foods, sin can hide in some pretty surprising places in our hearts. No wonder King David prayed to the Lord, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalms 139:23-24). For there is no one that can reveal our hearts the way the Lord can.
A few years ago, while I was doing my pre-Passover cleaning, I was pulling cushions off the couch in order to vacuum under them. I remember wondering how all those crumbs could possibly fall between the cushions like that. I thought the same about crumbs behind the furniture and in other odd places. So much work to remove such tiny pieces of bread or cake or cookies. Which got me thinking about the leaven/sin connection again. Some sins can seem so tiny, like careless words or prideful thoughts that embed themselves within the comfort of our lives. But no matter how tiny they are, they still contain leaven and must be removed. And usually, it's what we consider the tiny sins -- those hidden from view and unknown to guests -- that take the longest to remove because they are such a part of our daily living.
I'm in my 40's now, and I still dislike many of the chores that are part of spring cleaning. But over the years the Lord has taught me many things while doing it. He's helped me to see the bigger picture -- beyond the bleach and boiling water, beyond the vacuum cleaner and removal of food items. I've come to realize that making my home kosher for Passover is really a spiritual act. With every task I perform to remove leaven from my home, I am to examine my life and heart and compare it to the standard of God's word. Am I truly living as the unleavened bread Messiah calls us to be? When I break that matzah (unleavened bread) at the Passover seder and taste that which represents His broken body (ref: Luke 22:19), can I truly say that I am broken before Him? By the power of His Spirit, I know He can help me to answer yes.
Now, as the life-cycle clock once again starts ticking off the days and hours to Passover, I know that it is my time to reflect, as well as to clean, and to remove all leaven from my heart as well as my home. So, the rubber gloves are coming out, the furniture is being moved, and corners of my home -- and my heart -- are being searched. I'm preparing for Passover, inside and out.
