Spring Cleaning in October: A South African Christian's Reflection on the Joburg Spring, the House, the Soul, and the God Who Renews All Things

The Weekend the House Got Cleaned

There is a weekend in October in Johannesburg when the house gets cleaned. The cupboards get cleaned. The fridge gets cleaned. The garage gets cleaned. The garden shed gets cleaned. The closets get cleaned. The particular winter clothes get put away. The particular summer clothes get put out. The curtains get washed. The windows get washed. The garden furniture gets cleaned. The house gets cleaned.

The Christian in Sandton in 2026 has begun to think about the spring cleaning as a small picture of the renewal of the soul. The Bible has a great deal to say about cleaning. The Bible treats cleaning as one of the great Bible pictures.

This post is for the Christian in Johannesburg or Sandton who has begun to think about the spring cleaning — who has begun to wonder what the Bible says about cleaning, about the home, about the soul, about the God who renews.

What the Bible Actually Says About the House

The Bible is full of houses. The Bible begins with a house in Eden. The Bible ends with a house in the new Jerusalem. In between, there are many houses. The Bible treats the house as one of the great Bible pictures.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 — These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Joshua 24:15 — But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

2 Samuel 7:10 — And I will provide a place for my people Israel, and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed.

Psalm 23:6 — Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 128:3 — Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.

The Bible treats the house as a gift. The Bible is clear. The house is real. The gift is real.

What the Bible Says About Cleaning

The Bible is full of cleaning. The Bible treats cleaning as one of the great Bible pictures.

Leviticus 16:30 — Because on this day the priest will make atonement for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins.

Psalm 51:7-10 — Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Psalm 51:12 — Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Isaiah 1:16-17 — Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's case.

Ezekiel 36:25 — I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.

1 John 1:9 — If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The Bible treats cleaning as one of the great truths. The Bible is clear. The cleaning is real. The God is real.

What the Bible Says About Renewal

The Bible treats renewal as one of the great promises. The Bible treats the Christian who has been renewed as a Christian who has begun to walk in the newness of life.

Romans 12:2 — Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.

2 Corinthians 4:16 — Therefore we are a small picture of the renewal. We do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

Titus 3:5 — He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

Colossians 3:10 — And have put on the new man, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.

The Bible treats the renewal as one of the great truths. The Christian who has begun the spring cleaning has begun the renewal. The Christian who has begun the renewal is real.

What the Christian in Sandton Has Started Doing With the Spring Cleaning

In the last three Joburg october, the Sandton Wednesday evening Bible study has begun to think about the spring cleaning. We do not cancel the Bible study for the spring cleaning. We do not change the topic to the spring cleaning. We do, however, change three things.

We begin the Bible study that Wednesday with a moment of thanksgiving for the spring. The Christian in Sandton in 2026 has had a spring. The Christian in Sandton in 2026 has had a spring cleaning. The moment of thanksgiving is real.

We read one of the renewal passages from the Bible. We have read Psalm 51. We have read Isaiah 1. We have read Ezekiel 36. The Bible is real. The reading is real.

We pray, at the close of that week's Bible study, for the spring cleaning of the house, for the spring cleaning of the soul, for the spring cleaning of the Bible study. The prayer is real. The prayer is short. The prayer is for the new thing.

What the Bible Says About Decluttering

The Christian in Sandton in 2026 who has begun the spring cleaning has begun to think about decluttering. The closet has too many clothes. The bookcase has too many books. The study has too many papers. The Bible is clear about decluttering.

Hebrews 12:1 — Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Philippians 3:13-14 — Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:5-6 — Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

The Christian in Sandton who has begun the spring cleaning knows that the decluttering of the house is a small picture of the decluttering of the soul. The Christian who has thrown out the old winter coat has begun to throw out the old habit. The Christian who has cleaned the bookcase has begun to clean the Bible study. The Christian who has decluttered the study has begun to declutter the prayer. The decluttering is real.

What the Bible Says About the Children of the Spring

The Christian in Sandton who has children is teaching the children about the spring cleaning. The children are helping. The children are cleaning the toy box. The children are cleaning the closet. The children are cleaning the bookshelf.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 — These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Proverbs 22:6 — Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

The Christian parent can teach the children about the spring cleaning. The parent can tell the children, The spring cleaning is a small picture of the cleaning of the soul. The spring cleaning is a small picture of the Bible's teaching about the washing of the heart. The Bible is real. The spring cleaning is holy.

What the Bible Says About the Spring in General

The Bible is full of spring. The Bible treats the spring as a gift. The Bible treats the spring as one of the great pictures of the Christian life.

Song of Songs 2:11-12 — See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.

Matthew 6:28-30 — And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you — you of little faith?

Romans 6:4 — We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

The Bible treats the spring as one of the great gifts. The Christian who has begun to think about the spring cleaning has begun to think about the spring. The spring is real. The Bible is real.

A Short Prayer for the Spring Cleaning

Father, you are the God of the spring. You are the God of the cleaning. You are the God of the renewal. You are the God of the Joburg spring. We thank you for the spring. We thank you for the cleaning. We thank you for the renewal. Help us to use the spring well. Help us to clean the house. Help us to clean the soul. Help us to clean the Bible study. We ask this in the name of the one who said, "Create in me a pure heart, O God." Amen.

An Invitation

If you are a Christian in Johannesburg or Sandton who has begun the spring cleaning, or who has begun to wonder what the Bible says about cleaning, about renewal, about the house, the Wednesday evening Bible study in Sandton is open to you. The Bible study begins at 7:30pm on Wednesday evenings. We meet at the Bible study room in Parkmore. The Bible is real. The spring is real. The cleaning is real.

If you are a Christian who has also begun the spring cleaning with the children, or who is also a Christian from another suburb who would like to start a Bible study at the house, the Bible study is open to you. The Bible is real. The friendship is real. The spring is real.