Acts 3:20-21
Then that time will come when the Lord
will give you fresh strength. He will send you Jesus, his chosen
Messiah. But Jesus must stay in heaven until God makes all things new,
just as his holy prophets promised long ago.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
There
was a time when I cleaned our house every week…EVERY.WEEK. - from top
to bottom. I dusted furniture, vacuumed floors, scrubbed bathrooms, and
sometimes cleaned windows and did other “deep cleaning” jobs. At one
house we lived in, we had an entry-way that I waxed and buffed to a high
sheen. This wax had to be periodically stripped with ammonia and
re-applied. What was I thinking?!
For starters, I was a good
20+ years younger and had more energy. These days, Greg laughs because I
spend several days talking about cleaning before it ever gets done. I
will say, “Today, I’m going to clean the house.” He smiles and says,
“Yeah…okay.” Now, for the record, he doesn’t care if I clean the house
or not. His take is, “If we’re not having company, why bother?!” And
to some degree – okay, to a LARGE degree! – I’ve become comfortable with
that philosophy!
But there comes a point where I cannot rest
until my “house is in order” – quite literally. I honestly function
better and have a more positive mood when the house is relatively clean
and orderly. And if we are honest, we are this way with our spiritual
relationship, too – or we should be!
We can rock along for a
while and live in disorder. We can let our prayer life and regular
Bible study (notice I didn’t say DAILY Bible study!) slide a bit. We
can skip a few Sundays here and there at church and get involved in
other activities on the weekends. Some of us take this even further and
slide back into a few old, sinful habits. We let our “inner slob” take
over, and I have to tell you…the devil thinks this is a hoot! Satan
LOVES a “dirty house”!
Too many of us have postponed our
“housecleaning” and set Jesus on the shelf. We know He will return for
us someday – or that He will greet us in Heaven. So in the meantime, we
just plug along, doing whatever we feel we can or that time will allow –
or whatever feels best! We take Him for granted. And honestly, we
grow more sluggish…more weary…and more run down, as outside forces work
their way into our lives and vie for our time and attention.
Today,
I am determined to get my house cleaned. More importantly, I am
working on my heart – the “house” where Jesus lives in the form of His
Holy Spirit. As I go about my scrubbing and dusting, I am talking to
Him, reconnecting…letting His love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and
wisdom flood over me and refresh me like a Sunday-afternoon nap! I
encourage you to do the same.
Company IS coming…His name is Jesus! Is your “house” in order? Are you rested and ready?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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