So, awhile back the girls and I cleaned out the cars in preparation for my car guy to come by the house and clean.
(Free plug – Darrell with 1st Choice is awesome. Does a great job – super nice guy. Hit me up if you want his info and you’re in the West Atlanta area)
Anyway, we cleaned out all our junk from the last month… loaded up 3 laundry baskets full and took inside to sort. Darrell came by and did an awesome job shining up both vehicles. The hardest part is definitely cleaning them out for us. I would never get around to cleaning them out AND actually do a decent job cleaning them… but I digress.
Anyway the next day I was driving along and had a receipt from an ATM or something meaningless like that where I had no reason to keep it. I started to crumple it up and drop it in the map pocket but then i noticed how clean it was and put it in my pocket instead so that I would throw it away later that night.
It got me thinking – isn’t it funny that if your car is clean you will keep it that way for awhile? You won’t just leave trash in the floorboard if the car is spotless. But if it is full of junk and dirty already then the bag from McDonalds (God forbid) will just get tossed in the floorboard and will probably stay there.
The same thing is true around the house. If the kitchen is clean then I am likely to wash up whatever we use and put it away. If the sink is already full then we just keep piling it up. Kids do the same thing – they are much better about picking up after themselves if the house is in order. But if there is junk all over the place then they just drop their stuff wherever it happens to fall.
So, here is the point that hit home with me: The same is true in our lives – our hearts. Think about it. When you are walking with God and living with a pure heart then it is much easier to avoid temptation. Those little things that sneak up on you seem so out of place that you take the time to clean them up. You get rid of the impurity.
But the opposite is always true. Once you start letting junk in your life it is like a snowball. You compromise in one area. Then another. Then those little things come along that should raise a flag but because your heart is already cluttered up then you don’t even really notice. If you do notice it doesn’t make much of a difference so you just ignore it. Before you know it your life is so junked up and full of crap that you just give up.
Don’t let that happen! Take the time now to purify your life. Seek God and cleanse your life from anything that isn’t completely and 100% in line with His word. Clean aggressively.
Proverbs 20:9 Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart; I am pure and free from sin”?
Proverbs 20:7 The godly walk with integrity; blessed are their children who follow them.
Do it for yourself. Do it for your children.
When you think of it pray for me. I want to be a Godly man who walks with integrity. I want to leave that legacy as a blessing for my children.