Cleaning Out The Closet

I wonder how many reading this have an attic or a basement or a spare room that’s full of — just stuff! It’s easy to fill a room to a point, that in no time at all, it’s so full that we can’t even remember what’s in there. When we do finally take the time to sort through everything that has gathered, we surprise ourselves at having so much clutter. We discover that we have many things that we do not need. So, we have a spring cleaning and we get rid of all that we haven’t used in a very long time. When we’ve finished, we stand back and admire the beauty of the space; all clutter is gone. Then what happens? We begin to fill it all up, yet again, with things we don’t need. Perhaps in time, we clear all the clutter out once more. We repeat this process countless times throughout our lives. Of course, for those who horde, the clutter gets worse and worse until there’s barely anything in the room that’s recognizable or even useful.

We do the very same thing in our spiritual world. It’s our mind that becomes the storage closet where we keep things that we do not need. We throw in worry. We throw in bitterness. We throw in loathing of ourselves and of others, too. We throw in distrust in God. We throw in guilt. The list could go on and on, but you get the idea. Why do we collect so much garbage in both our physical and our spiritual worlds? Worst still, why do we keep it for so long? Garbage will only, with time, rot and stink. When we clutter our minds with garbage and leave it there, our thoughts begin to rot and stink, too. It’s not fun. Garbage covers our peace with the thick dust of despondency.

Apostle Paul encouraged us in Philippians 4:8 to “Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are worthy of praise.” Do you notice that it’s a command? It doesn’t say to try and think about things pure and lovely. It says to do it. In other words, the moment you realize that a piece of garbage has been stored in the closet of your mind — throw it out! How do we throw garbage out of our minds? By choosing and training our minds to think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. For example, when worry gets thrown in, replace it with reminders that God never makes mistakes and He cares for you immeasurably. When self loathing gets stored in a great big box, replace it with the fact that you are so precious to Jesus, that He willingly died so you could have life. When loneliness ends up on a shelf in your mind, replace it with God’s truth that says He will never leave you or forsake you. God’s Word is the best cleaner of all. It removes every stain and piece of dirt in our minds, and replaces the stink of garbage with the sweet fragrance of God’s love. God’s Word purifies.

Where God’s Word lives, no garbage can survive. Therefore, let’s do spring cleaning all year round. Peace will thrive in an uncluttered mind.