Spring Into Cleaning

Today we’ve been doing a lot of cleaning and repairing to the house.  We’ve repaired small holes in walls, painted small knicks and stains that have accumulated over the last few years and we stained the front door.  While we were at it, we washed the outside of the house, washed the windows and swept the patios.  It was kind of funny.  As we started cleaning and washing we would find other things we needed to clean or repair.  So we made a list of what we wanted to do. 

We all pitched in and got just about everything we needed to do accomplished.  It took a little effort, but we got it done. 

While carrying out a load of trash, Donna points out to Connor that we’ve been living with a lot of clutter in our house.  She then asked a very important question.  “Why haven’t we taken it out sooner?  We would have felt so much better about ourselves if we would have done this before now.  We just get used to it being there and learn to live with it”.  Connor says, “That will preach, Mom”. 

We do let a lot of garbage and clutter build up in our lives and we do learn to live with it.  We have a little bitterness piled up in the corner of our heart, a little doubt and unbelief sitting on the sofa of our mind and in the back room of the conscience there’s a cobweb of lies that’s been there for a few years.  We see it every day, but we learn to walk by and ignore it.    

Before long, the clutter begins to build and we begin to make excuses as to why we’re not doing anything to correct it.  We’re too tired or we don’t have time to do anything about it now are just some of the lies we tell ourselves.  Before we can turn around, we have a room full of filth that had we taken care of it sooner, we probably would’ve felt so much better about ourselves and our living conditions. 

First John 1:8-9 tells us, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. 

As soon as the clutter and garbage starts to build, take the time to get it cleaned out.   Don't wait, do something about it immediately.  Psalms 51 is David’s prayer he prayed when Nathan the Prophet came to him about his affair with Bathsheba.  He asked God for mercy, to wash him, cleanse him, purge him, to create a clean heart and restore joy into his life.  David didn’t wait until he had time or wait until he felt like it to get his life cleaned up.  He did it right then, right there.  No procrastination. 

So as we enter into the Spring season and we begin our cleaning routines check your mind, your heart and your spirit. Pray Psalms 139:23-24, “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”.  You’ll feel better about yourself and the living conditions of your soul. 

Just a thought on a page….

Sometimes, It Does Take A Mountain!

A man was sitting on a park bench killing time when he slipped off to sleep.  As he slept, he began to dream that he was traveling down a rough road.  Suddenly, he found himself in front of a very large mountain.  It was very steep and very wide mountain with many valleys and peaks that looked to be unobtainable.  In addition to the peaks and valleys, the mountain was occupied by many enemies that looked to be undefeatable.  So, he did what anyone would do.  He stopped walking. 

In the dream he asked the Lord, “Lord, what do you want me to do with this?  You need to move it.  I can’t move forward as long as it’s in the way.  I can’t climb this.  I can't move forward and be successful.  I’ll fail.”

The Lord began to tell the man, “Move forward, but don’t focus on the mountain, but rather focus on My voice.  Focus on Me.”  So the man did as he was instructed.

As he moved, he began praying and developing a relationship with Christ like he’d never had before.  He focused solely on developing that relationship and didn’t let anything or anyone else get in the way. 

It wasn’t easy.  There were things that would come against him.  People, time issues and other forms of distractions would try to get in the way; however, he had to push all of that aside and focus on the relationship he was developing.    

One day , as he was traveling, he stepped closer to what seem to be a small ledge.  As he did, he could see a long distance away.  The sights were so beautiful.  The sun was out, the clouds were like cotton in the sky, and the roads were flat and travelable. 

He told the Lord, “Thank you for moving that mountain”.  The Lord answered and said, “Son, I didn’t move the mountain.  I just helped you climb it.”  As he looked back, he could see that the mountain that he perceived to be too steep and wide to conquer was a now behind him.  He had overcome and obtained the very things he perceived to be unobtainable.  He had defeated the foes that he thought were undefeatable.  He was a victor, and had never raised his hand in battle all because he focused solely on developing his relationship with Christ.

Today, whatever it is you’re facing, don’t ask God to move it, but rather ask God to move you closer to Him.  It's when you start focusing on Him that you'll soon realize that the mountain, although steep and dangerous, can be defeated when you put your focus in and on Christ and not the issues before you. 

When we focus on moving closer to Him, one day we’ll take a step and see that there’s a beautiful path that God has for us to follow.  The sun will shine, the sky will be blue and the road will be so much smoother to travel.  All because we didn’t focus on the mountain, but the One who put it there in the first place. 

Sometimes, it does take a mountain…

My thoughts on a page...

 

Uh Oh, She's On Her Way Home!

As I sit here feeling clean, peaceful, happy and fulfilled, I can’t help but ask myself the question.  Why didn’t I do this earlier? 

This week was Spring Break for our school district and I’ve had the house pretty much to myself all week.  Donna and I took the boys to West Monroe last weekend and came home Sunday, but then Donna went back on Thursday, leaving me the house all to myself for the rest of the week! 

Now, you know as well as I do, leaving a man at home by himself to basically do what he wants is sometimes an un-wise thing to do.  Yes, we don’t wash clothes, we don’t put our dishes away, we make big messes and we don’t clean up after ourselves.  We make meals and don’t clean the dishes.  We get dirty from being outside and we take our clothes off and throw them in the floor.  We track in mud from being in the yard that’s muddy as a swamp from all the rain.  We leave our junk food wrappers on the floor in the TV room and our empty milk glasses on the desk.  We make messes…we’re free!!  Or we think we are anyway. 

Well, as free as I was to create the mess, I was obligated to also clean the mess up.  I made it, I had to clean it.  It was at this point I realized, I should have cleaned up after I made the mess.  That way, I wouldn’t have so much to do prior to everyone getting home. 

That was another problem.  I procrastinated!  Procrastination of cleaning only made the job that much harder to do.  The filth had built up until there was so much to clean that I didn’t know where to start.  So, I started in our room and worked my way into the kitchen. 

I picked up my clothes and put them in the hamper, I folded and hung up the laundry that I had washed earlier, I dusted and I vacuumed throughout the entire house.  Then I went into the kitchen.  I put up all the leftover food, I wiped off the counters and cleaned the stove top, I put all the boxes I had pulled out back into the cabinet and I washed off the dishes and loaded them into the dishwasher.  By the way, I think that’s the dumbest thing to do…why can’t they make a dishwasher that you don’t have to wash the dish prior to loading, but that’s another story for another day. 

After I cleaned the kitchen, I thought about the floors.  I got the broom and dust pan and swept the floor, and then I mopped it.  I looked at the kitchen and thought I was finished and realized I had one more thing to do before I’d be complete.  I had to take out the trash. 

As I sealed the bag and carried it to the can, I realized that I was through with the task of cleaning.  I also realized that it didn’t take me near as long as I thought it would.  However, I was glad I was done.  I could sit down and relax for a little while. 

I don’t think I’ve answered the question of why I felt happy, peaceful and fulfilled.  Here’s why.  I got finished with everything prior to Donna and the boys getting home.  They’ll come home to a nice clean, fresh smelling home.  They wouldn’t have to do one thing, but unload from their trip and relax when they got home.  No cleaning, no washing, no loading the dishwasher, because it was all done.  Knowing that they would be able to relax and spend time with me made me feel good.  It made me happy!  I felt like I had accomplished something that they would be proud of me over.  I felt complete and fulfilled over something that I knew they would be happy about. 

This got me thinking.  I wonder if we treat our sins the same way. 

We all know that Jesus is coming back, we just don’t know when.  We play in the world and fill our lives with stuff that we know He wouldn’t like, hoping that He doesn’t come back and find us kicked back in our easy chairs, while our hearts are filled with dirt that we could have and should have already had cleaned. 

Will He come and find that we’ve left old clothes of deceit lying around, carpet filled with iniquity un-vacuumed, and dishes with remnants of bad habits lying on the cabinets of our heart? 

You know as well as I do, at some point you’re going to have to get the mess cleaned up.  I’ve heard our Pastor say many times, “Jesus can do anything, but He’s not going to everything”.  We have to make up our minds that we don’t want to live in the filth any longer.  We have to be the ones to start the process of cleaning and that first step is asking to be forgiven.   

Just like I felt good about Donna and the boys coming home, when we ask Jesus to forgive us and we let Him clean our hearts, we too can feel good about His returning. 

He is coming.  One day real soon He’ll come to get us.  You ready?  You can be! Don’t Procrastinate!

Just something to think about…