Being Honest With Ourselves
The move continues. Trying to downsize what has been accumulated over the years is tough. Everything got moved, stored, donated, or removed. Now the process begins to find where each item belongs. In the process, there is more downsizing that must take place. I look at my own possessions and realize that I should be in that same mode... not because I have any plans to move, but I desperately need to downsize too... a lot. How do you go through everything that is so important for so many reasons and determine what stays and what goes. One of my fears is that as soon as I get rid of it, I will find a use for it. This should not shut down my ability to make the right choices... the hard choices... the healthy choices. Some people speak of spring cleaning, which is a good way to keep things somewhat orderly. I fear I need life cleaning. Speaking of life cleaning, how are things going in your life? No. I am not talking about surface things. I am talking about your faith, your desires, your spirituality. Have you allowed extra baggage to become a distraction or a drain? There was a question in the New Testament times about not burdening the new converts with the Jewish laws that just added burden. Is your faith the most important thing in your life, or have you allowed worldly ideas and influences to overwhelm you? Is your spiritual understanding from the foundation of God’s word or have you allowed ideas on the internet, the latest books on spirituality, or your own wants to cloud your judgement.
We probably all need to do some life cleaning where we must start determining, with the help of the Holy Spirit, what we really need. Everything we hang on to from the world is that much less spiritual richness we will know in the depths of our hearts. If you fill your bookshelf with novels, where will you keep the reference books and Biblical references. You can try building another bookshelf, but then it will just add more clutter and distraction. Choose carefully what you allow into your house (where the Holy Spirit dwells) for it will influence everything else that you do. Are you hoarding junk - anger, jealousy, bitterness, materialism, etc. Let it go! Father, create in me a clean heart and put a new and right spirit within me. Remove the trash from my life and fill the space with You. Amen