Today’s post is the second in a series of posts about issues in our homes and hearts that may be in need of some spring cleaning. To read the first in the series, click here.
Let’s begin our spring cleaning with one of the first, and probably easiest, places I find myself needing to clean out – my closet. You know, the place where I have enough clothes and shoes for a small army. I actually conquered this area of my house this past weekend. Five large garbage bags later, I could actually put the clothes I wear away because there was room for them once I took out everything that I hadn’t worn for over a year or didn’t fit me the way I like clothes to fit or just wasn’t my style anymore.
I think the closet represents the excesses that we have in our lives. Do we really need to have that many pairs of shoes? That many shirts? That many pairs of jeans? How much of what hangs in our closets has actually been worn in the last 12 months? 50%? Less? What other excesses do we have in our lives? Is our pantry over-filled with food? Are our entertainment centers overflowing with DVDs? Think about your house. What areas do you think of when I suggest that we have many excesses in our lives? I am sure you can think of at least one. Perhaps some of you are like me and can think of many.
The most telling thing for me is that sometimes, instead of thinking about all the stuff that I have, some of which is in excessive amounts, I often find myself thinking about what I don’t have instead. And if that’s not enough, I find myself wanting even more. Like when I have a closet full of clothes and find myself not happy with any of them and wanting different ones. Or when I have a perfectly good laptop that is a few years old, but I really want a new one.
What’s going on in my heart? Greed? Self-preservation? Lack of generosity? Have I allowed myself to get too caught up in the consumer culture that I live in? Maybe it is a little of all of the above. So, as I clean out the closets in my house, I need to allow the Lord to clean up the closets of my heart where needed. So I ask for His guidance to show me what needs to go and what needs to stay.
How about you? Are there some excesses in your life that need God’s help?