Time To De-Clutter

While on vacation, I visited a friend I had not seen in a long time. After our enthusiastic greeting, my friend took me to her bedroom and showed me her closet. It was crammed from top to bottom with so many things, it was difficult to really see what was in it. In other words, it was like looking at a forest and not seeing the trees. As I stared at her closet, I recalled it had been in the same condition a couple years ago.

She shook her head in dismay. "I have to do something, but I don't know where to begin."

All I could do was nod and agree. And give her the suggestion I've heard so many times on television - if you haven't used it in a year, throw it out.

Do you have a closet like that? Packed with stuff you have forgotten you have? Do you long to throw out some of that junk, but don't know where to start? Do you wish you could just turn it over to someone who knew what to do?

Just as our closets can be clogged with things we no longer need, so can our lives. All that stuff can burden us to the point that we stagger under their weight, and feel anxious and overwhelmed. And like my friend, we may not know where to begin. How do we get rid of jealousy, pride, anger, prejudice, bad habits, bad relationships, and the myriad things that are choking out the good qualities God wants to develop in us?

My friend longs to have some order and space in her closet so she can select her items with ease, and until she begins to ruthlessly throw some things out, she will never have what she needs. As Christians, we are more fortunate. We don't have to do our internal cleaning ourselves. In fact, like my friend, we won't know where or how to begin. But thank God, we have the Holy Spirit who will cleanse us from within and help us breathe freely once more.