Don't be obsessed with getting more material things.
Be relaxed with what you have been given.
Hebrews 13:5 (MSG)
If you’re like me, you’ve taken advantage of perhaps a bit more downtime lately. It has been practically nonexistent for much too long. So now you find yourself compelled to begin doing what most of us would call spring cleaning. In the course of cleaning out closets, home offices, or those spare bedrooms, you have suddenly discovered the need to purge or remove items that are no longer needed but yet perhaps may still be valuable. You contemplate if someone else would find them useful. So, to be good stewards of these material possessions, you look for a local charity in which to share your belongings. You then load up the car (as many have done the past couple of weeks) and haul away those items that are no longer beneficial to your daily living.
Now that the closets are cleaned out, the garage roomy enough again for the cars, and the extra toys removed that used to clutter up the kid’s rooms, the house has a “new” feel about it. Life (in a way) has been decluttered. Excess material things have been purged from your existence and from your responsibility to maintain. I would ask you one simple question, “How does this make you feel?”
It’s freeing, isn’t it? There’s something to be said about living a life of simplicity. It’s not only a question of living within one’s means but also of being satisfied with what one has. The Bible speaks very clearly about the dangers of material wealth and possessions or living in excess of what one needs. We all know how easy it can be to collect or hang on to things that no longer benefit us. What a blessing to be able to share or give something away that someone else may find to be helpful.
I believe there is another spiritual discipline we can practice while we're looking to rid our lives of material things that can weigh us down and hinder us from experiencing freedom the way that God intended. Not only is it good to purge our lives of the materials things that create a greater burden for us, but it is also good to purge or clean out those matters of the heart that we know God would not find pleasing. The Psalmist writes:
Remove my sin, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Psalm 51:7 (GNT)
If we feel such a sense of freedom from having purged and cleaned out the unnecessary belongings cluttering our daily existence, can you imagine how much more freeing it must feel like to clean out the areas of our heart that we know have no business being there? Are there practices or habits in your life today you know need to be purged or discarded with the help of the Master’s strength? Why not take a moment this week and let God show you and help you remove those areas in your heart you know are not pleasing to Him? You will allow yourself to experience a redemptive freedom that comes only by way of the cross. Only because of what Christ has done for us at Calvary can we experience His resurrection power at work in our lives helping us to overcome those obstacles that cloud our relationship with God.
Don’t be afraid to be honest with yourself? Look around your house; look inside your heart; what might you need to purge or cleanout so that the Lord may shine even brighter in your Christian walk? Others will be blessed because of what you have to share both materially and spiritually. You will find yourself walking more joyfully confident because of what the Lord has done to lighten the unsatisfying clutter of your heart.
There is joy in the journey when our eyes are fixed on Jesus.
Happy Purging!
Pastor Glen
Worship & Music Minister
