Just the other day...I decided it was time to do some cleaning out around here. It's been "time" for a while, but I think I just needed some motivation. An excellent dose of motivation came when nine family members decided to come for a visit. Yep, that'll do it!
The first area I decided to tackle was the worst. It was our laundry/pantry/mudroom/catch-all room. Whew! It was messy! Extra coats had fallen in the floor along with a couple of my husbands baseball caps. A few pieces of laundry that at one time were clean and left on the dryer had even made it to the floor. I started picking up these items and as I did, my stomach turned over in disgust at what I saw.
Our family of five had not been alone this past winter.
All evidence pointed to the fact that we had provided a cozy, safe home for a small member of the rodent family.
I was not happy.
The Lord, however, quickly used those moments to show me an object lesson. You see, we had suspected that we were not alone earlier in the year. We even put out a few traps, but when we didn't "get" anything, we simply forgot about our little "friend". There was no...uh...evidence of him or her for quite some time.
So we just let it go and quite frankly, forgot about it.
In doing so, we gave our little friend permission to set up residence.
Ya know, it can be the same in our spiritual lives.
The Lord might show us something that needs attention in our lives, perhaps a sin that is becoming habitual. We may do the right thing and attempt to deal with the issue. But, just as in so many other areas in our life, we get lazy. We get complacent. We turn a blind eye and go on about our business thinking the problem will take care of itself.
In doing so, many times we actually give over our permission to let the sinful habit or issue set up residence in our lives.
It's like we declare - "Well just come on in, cause I'm too tired to fight with ya." (best when read in your best southern drawl, of course)
Listen, if you give the enemy an inch, he will take a mile. Better yet, imagine him as a rock climber. If you give him a foothold, even the smallest one, he will attempt to tackle the whole mountain. If not stopped, he'll set up camp, thinking he has the victory. He will make himself all comfortable and cozy in your life. He'll make a disgusting mess and not think twice about it. It'll be his pleasure (thank you very much).
And one day, you'll look around and suddenly realize, you have some hard work to do! What could have easily been fixed before will now take more effort. Of course, the Lord will help you through ANY problem and NOTHING is too big for Him. But, had you listened to His still small voice when the "issue" first began in your life, you could have saved yourself (and possibly others around you) from having to clean up and deal with a huge mess.
Cultivating a teachable spirit and remaining humble before the Lord is of utmost importance and cannot be stressed enough. It is imperative that we stay close to Him, willing to obey His voice quickly at all times!
What is it that the Lord has been prompting you to deal with? What is it that you have been neglecting? Is there a "little" sin that you are allowing in your life, thinking it will not cause any real damage?
The first area I decided to tackle was the worst. It was our laundry/pantry/mudroom/catch-all room. Whew! It was messy! Extra coats had fallen in the floor along with a couple of my husbands baseball caps. A few pieces of laundry that at one time were clean and left on the dryer had even made it to the floor. I started picking up these items and as I did, my stomach turned over in disgust at what I saw.
Our family of five had not been alone this past winter.
All evidence pointed to the fact that we had provided a cozy, safe home for a small member of the rodent family.
I was not happy.
The Lord, however, quickly used those moments to show me an object lesson. You see, we had suspected that we were not alone earlier in the year. We even put out a few traps, but when we didn't "get" anything, we simply forgot about our little "friend". There was no...uh...evidence of him or her for quite some time.
So we just let it go and quite frankly, forgot about it.
In doing so, we gave our little friend permission to set up residence.
Ya know, it can be the same in our spiritual lives.
The Lord might show us something that needs attention in our lives, perhaps a sin that is becoming habitual. We may do the right thing and attempt to deal with the issue. But, just as in so many other areas in our life, we get lazy. We get complacent. We turn a blind eye and go on about our business thinking the problem will take care of itself.
In doing so, many times we actually give over our permission to let the sinful habit or issue set up residence in our lives.
It's like we declare - "Well just come on in, cause I'm too tired to fight with ya." (best when read in your best southern drawl, of course)
Listen, if you give the enemy an inch, he will take a mile. Better yet, imagine him as a rock climber. If you give him a foothold, even the smallest one, he will attempt to tackle the whole mountain. If not stopped, he'll set up camp, thinking he has the victory. He will make himself all comfortable and cozy in your life. He'll make a disgusting mess and not think twice about it. It'll be his pleasure (thank you very much).
And one day, you'll look around and suddenly realize, you have some hard work to do! What could have easily been fixed before will now take more effort. Of course, the Lord will help you through ANY problem and NOTHING is too big for Him. But, had you listened to His still small voice when the "issue" first began in your life, you could have saved yourself (and possibly others around you) from having to clean up and deal with a huge mess.
Cultivating a teachable spirit and remaining humble before the Lord is of utmost importance and cannot be stressed enough. It is imperative that we stay close to Him, willing to obey His voice quickly at all times!
What is it that the Lord has been prompting you to deal with? What is it that you have been neglecting? Is there a "little" sin that you are allowing in your life, thinking it will not cause any real damage?
The time to deal with it is NOW.
Proverbs 28:13 says,
"Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces finds mercy."
Proverbs 1:28 - 33 says,
"Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
they will look for me but will not find me,
since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the Lord.
Since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,
they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
but whoever listens to me will live in safety
For His glory,
