Cleaning Out

DateLine (11/8/06 – Simpsonville, SC)
Guest Contributor for Reference Point (Libby Janik)

This week, I began the ever so fun task of CLEANING OUT---closets, kitchen drawers, the pantry, under the bed (eeek!). My entire house had been overtaken by the "junk" and clutter that had accumulated in the two years since I moved in. So I decided to take action. My bedroom closet was unspeakable--- I couldn't even close the door due to the piles of clothes, linens, towels, and lots of other things that covered the floor. I began by following the tradition of those AWESOME clean-up shows on HGTV. I made three piles: things to throw away, things to donate, and things to keep. Two hours later I had thrown away old ratty shoes, torn and tattered jeans, and lots of trash; I had 4 bags of clothes and shoes in good condition to donate; and I had organized the "keepers" into a neat closet where I can actually find what I'm looking for and (wow) even close the door! I even found clothes I had forgotten about.

All this cleaning out really made me think: doesn't my heart sometimes become a cluttered mess? Don't I hold onto so much trash that it's hard for me to keep the door closed? (and by "door" I mean "mouth") Consider as I did that every now and again, or as often as it takes, maybe we need to look at our hearts with an objective eye and begin to clean out and start over.
What should we donate, or give away, to others? Hebrews 13:16 says, "Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." How often do we run across hurting people and keep our encouragement to ourselves when we should be giving it away to others? I know my schedule is sometimes packed (whose isn't?) and giving of my time is certainly something I need to work on. What do you need to donate from your heart? Money, encouragement, time, a hug, a phone call?

What do we need to trash? How many times do we enter God's presence, at church, in our prayers, during communion, with unconfessed sin in our lives? How often do we hold onto bitter words someone said or mean things people did in our past? What are we allowing to enter our hearts via television, radio, gossip, bad language that has embedded itself into our souls? We as Christians are called to be holy as Jesus is holy (1 Peter 1:15). Maybe it's time we threw away our bitterness, our envy, our anger. Maybe it's time we threw away our unconfessed sin, or our ongoing sin, by confessing to God and turning things in a new direction with His help.

And then that leaves us with the things in our hearts we should keep. Maybe (like I did in my closet) we'll find things we didn't even remember we had. Remember those Bible verses we learned in Vacation Bible School so long ago? Now that the trash is gone, we can find those again. What about the characteristics of the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control---all keepers! What else can we keep at the forefronts of our souls, minds, and hearts when all the clutter is in its place? The Holy Spirit wants to speak to us, and it's a lot easier for us to hear His voice with our hearts if our hearts are free of "clutter".

I know that life is hard, and that life "gets in the way". Satan and his armies are very real and very scary. This world is evil. Let's do our part to combat Satan and be devoted to God by doing a "clean out" of our hearts, our homes, our relationships, and our church. And while you're at it, you might even find time for your closet!