Clutter, clutter, everywhere...

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, Hypocrites!" Matthew 23:27

Good morning, dear friends,

Clutter, clutter, everywhere, as far as the eye can see...
Clutter, clutter, everywhere, and no one to blame but me.

My house may seem tidy at times, but please don't open any doors. Period.

What might look like a tidy kitchen, in reality looks more like this....

Or this...

Or this.

Why am I showing my untidyness?  Maybe to shame myself into getting something done about it.

I'm not reading any more articles about cleaning clutter, or what causes clutter, or how to eliminate clutter in my life.  I know what causes clutter in my house, and no, it's not my children.  (Well, not JUST my children.)

The real cause of clutter?

Laziness...on my part.

Instead of putting something back in an orderly fashion in the drawer, or closet, or wherever it goes, I just shove it back in, thinking that I am saving time, thinking that I'll get around to putting it away later.

We all know how that goes.  I am not saving time; I am just making my work load harder for myself.  We all know that LATER never comes.

When will I learn?

As long as my house looks tidy on the outside, in front of the closed doors, I'm not as picky with what goes on behind those closed doors.  There are things that need to be thrown away, things that are broken and need to be replaced, and some things in there that should never be there.

And, unfortunately, it's not always limited to my house.

Spiritual clutter is a much bigger problem than having a disorderly house.  On the outside, I try to make a nice appearance, both physically and spiritually.  The Lord knows, however, what is going on behind closed doors.

Sometimes, it's not pretty.

There are sins that need to be confessed and thrown away.  There are past sins that are forgiven that I allow to burden my heart with guilt today.  There are sinful attitudes that I must forsake, and replace with Christlike attitudes.  There are worries, fears, and angers that have no place in my life, period.

A very humbling passage to me has been Matthew 23: 27-28.   Jesus is addressing the Pharisees, who placed so much importance on their outward appearance being "spotless," but their insides were just a mess.  Like me.  My outside appearance may line up with what a godly Christian should look like, but how about my insides?

Is there jealousy or discontentment there?

Am I believing God's truth, or is Satan whispering doubt and other lies to my heart?

Am I bitter toward someone? Angry? Impatient?  Frustrated?

Am I unloving to someone today?

How much more should I be willing to "clean house," beginning with my heart.  I need to...

...throw out what is useless. "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:" (Ephesians 4:31)

....replace what is broken. "And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." (Ephesians 4:24)

....eliminate the extras that keep my life from being "tidy". "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us," (Hebrews 12:1)

May the Lord help me today to clean house, spiritually speaking.  May I not allow sin to clutter up my life, making me unfruitful and unuseable for His service today.

And, just so I don't break faith with my readers, I did a little spring cleaning as well...