Cleaning Up

Have you ever helped a child clean their VERY messy room and when it is all in order it is as if everything is new. They play with toys they had abandoned because all the pieces have been found. They enjoy a toy they couldn’t find in all the clutter. They actually have socks in their drawer that match and there are no Legos to pierce your feet in the middle of the night. It is a wonderful thing and they vow that they will keep it like this forever!

Does that ever happen… they keep it clean forever…? They may keep it clean until they decide something else is more fun than taking care of their things… or they get in a hurry… or you have a late night of homework and no time for the bedtime ritual of picking everything up and putting it in its place. Or the worst…. A friend comes over and wants to see all the toys and thinks it is a good idea to dump them all on the floor. Your child is now completely overwhelmed and you have to go back and help pick up the pieces of that once tidy space.

As parents/grown-ups, we aren’t so very different. We work to lose weight and get fit, then let it go when we allow temptation to lead us astray. We vow to never let the laundry pile up, but after work we are just too tired so we push it back another day. We are going to get out those envelops and stay on budget until we are too tired to cook and order pizza instead or decide it would be bad stewardship to miss all those sales… even when our closets are bulging with clothing.

None of us really wake up in the morning and think, “I want to be a hot mess today and allow my lack of self-control take over my life. I hope to disappoint my spouse with my rude tongue. I can’t wait to scream at my kids until they cry. My plan at work is to cut corners and waste time. I will text and drive and cause an accident. I will eat the junk food that makes me miserable and drink too much so that I am not myself. I will feed my addiction and push aside my desire to walk with Jesus this day, because my way is obviously better.” We don’t say those things… but far too often, we live them.

Why is that? Paul tells the first century church in Rome that, if we are following Jesus, we no longer need to be a slave to the demands of sin. He reminds the young converts that a decision to follow Jesus is to link arms and walk the way He walks. The chains of our sinful desires have been broken, but we remain in the dungeon of failure, holding on to those heavy chains.

How many of us who profess to be a follower of Christ are still holding on to the life we lived without him? How many of us are a hot mess because our words haven’t changed, nor have our attitudes. We want that clean room where we can play in peace and find what we need, but we keep inviting the same “friends” into our life who create messes and in the blink of an eye we are back to the mess we want to escape.

If you claim to be a God follower, but your life doesn’t look any different than before you decided to follow Him… then you haven’t followed. You are simply claiming to have a clean room, but keeping the door shut so you don’t have to admit you are a mess.

So, I ask you, are you linked with Jesus and following the path He has for you or are you still linked with the sin you intended to leave behind?  Are you letting Him help you clean up the mess and toss all the brokenness aside? Are you showing your children how life changes when you are no longer a slave to sin but have become a slave to obedience? If you have made a commitment to follow Jesus, within you is the power to overcome the desires that sin planted in your heart. You have what you need to grab the hand of your Savior and walk in His way.

If you want true blessings in your life you have to turn from the way the world lives and trust Him. Your obedience to Him is the beginning of your new life. He accepts us when we are a mess, but it is contrary to His plan for us to remain so. Drop those chains, grab His hand and let’s get this mess cleaned up!