Spring Cleaning!

2 Kings 22:14-23:30

Throughout the year, many who own homes or rent apartments, usually accumulate excessive amounts of clothing, tools and equipment, and most notably, dirt and grime. For this reason, “Spring Cleaning” was coined to represent a time when conducting a thorough cleaning of the home, or place of living should, take place. Usually, moms take charge of going through every area of the home, in an effort to get rid of things that have little to no value, then go to work on those areas until they are clean enough to her liking. Children are usually involved in this process, but not to the same extent as mothers.

Keeping things stored that add no value to your living situation, only take up space for things that actually can add value. In most cases of spring cleaning, junk is thrown out, and messy places are renewed to reveal their intended freshness. While living the Christian life, it’s easy to get attached to things that aren’t healthy for our souls, if we aren’t careful. For instance, if you check the hearts of the average believer, I’m almost certain you’ll find one or two items in their “inner man”, that are unhealthy for their spiritual development. Just as mom’s designate times to thoroughly clean their homes, the children of God should do the same to keep their hearts and minds clean, and unspotted from the world. It’s important to take moments during the day to examine whether the things in your life are adding to your growth in godliness, or if they represent something contrary to holy living.

Our text gives a great example of how the process of purifying our souls should be conducted. In the previous lesson, king Josiah heard the word of God for the first time, then was immediately convicted, and sought to make things right. This young man not only intended to turn the hearts of the people toward righteous living, but he literally cleaned out EVERYTHING that brought dishonor to the name of the Lord. Below is a brief list of some of the things Josiah was provoked to put into action:

-burned all vessels that were made for baal
-put down the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and around Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to baal, the sun, and to the moon, planets, and hosts of heaven
-burned all the wooden images in the house of the Lord, until they were like powder
-broke down the houses of the sodomites near the house of the Lord, where women wove decorations for the graven images
-defiled all high places where the priests burned incense
-removed horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, then burned the chariots of the sun with fire
-beat down and brake all altars made by the evil kings of Judah
-defiled all the abominations built by king Solomon -broke in pieces all the graven images, and filled their places with the bones of men

To what extent do you go, to keep your heart clean before the Lord?

From Dust To Life

Psalm 103:1-14

Isn’t it fascinating how man chooses to remember those things God forgets, while also forgetting those things God remembers? Sound confusing? Well, it’s truth nonetheless. Man was formed by the Lord God from the dust of the ground, and became a living soul, by the breath God breathed into his nostrils. Of all the precious jewels, stones, and other elements of the earth, why did God choose dust as man’s main ingredient? Could it be, there would come a time in history, when man would become tainted by sin, and need to be reminded how frail and fragile he really is? Or, did God choose the thing that seemed worthless, so that man could avoid the thought of becoming arrogant and haughty? Could you imagine, if man was formed from gold, silver, and other priceless elements? That would be totally awesome, yet would also come with a price.

There are many times in life, when men do forget they are only dirt, yet live as if they are worth everything, rather than forgetting those sins that so easily set them up for failure. When we seek God’s forgiveness from sin and iniquity, and are faithful in our approach to the Throne of Grace, the Father removes our transgressions from us, so far as the east is from the west. While we wallow and squirm in our errors and mistakes, God sits patient, waiting for us to step back on the righteous path, and start moving again.

God knows we are dust, and susceptible to making mistakes, so He set aside unlimited grace and everlasting mercy, so that we could always have a chance to redeem ourselves, if ever we come back to our senses.

“We live this life for purpose and reason, but not too long, for only a season.” – Ell

Dust In The Wind

Matthew 6:16-21

Fasting, is a spiritual tool that has been utilized for centuries by men and women of God, that has helped to strengthen their focus on the Lord’s will for their lives. The traditional fasting method involved putting aside natural food for a time period, so that one could fine tune their spiritual hunger for the things of God. Fasting according to Scripture, has ALWAYS yielded amazing benefits to those who endured, but to those who took it lightly, they had far different rewards. God’s desire for His people is, that we maintain focus on pleasing Him, but when we do things to gain the attention of men, God will withhold what He had planned to bestow upon us, until we rectify our approach.

Another benefit associated with fasting is, it helps the believer concentrate more on the value of eternal treasures, rather than earthly ones. Have you ever considered the fact that all the things you deem valuable, and keep stored in special places in your home or somewhere else, will someday be either stolen, or corrupted by natural decay? Yeah, those 200 dollar autographed Jordans, or Lebrons, that are kept in a glass case in your trophy room, won’t be worth a hill of beans, sooner or later. Men today place value in cars, clothes, jewelry, money, precious stones, animal skins, and all types of carnal things, that will soon lose all its value. Knowing that our earthly treasures will someday be blown away in the winds, should provoke men to invest in heavenly treasures instead.

There’s a scene in Marvel’s Avengers Infinity War movie, where Tony Stark (Iron Man) and Peter Parker (Spiderman), shared a moment of sad embrace. A few seconds after Thanos snapped his fingers, Tony found himself holding on to the ashes of the young Peter, as he had been snapped out of existence. In a similar fashion, all the things we hold on to in this life, that have no spiritual value, will be turned to ashes, so why devote so much time into storing them up? Rather than selfishly accumulate mounds of earthly treasures, I suggest we do things in this life that will add to our heavenly rewards. For example, love your neighbors and your enemies. Do good to all men. Take care of, and provide for the poor and needy. Share your experiences and knowledge with the younger generation. Always invest your time into doing things that please God. This way, there will be no doubt He’ll have heaps of treasures awaiting you in the future.

Walk in love,

Ell