Saturday Seeking - "Clearing the Clutter"

It was a beautiful day, which inspired my husband to tackle a much neglected garage.  Picture far too many unessential things packed into the space which should be reserved for our vehicles.  He made great progress, and there is now room for at least the car to find shelter.

Seeing his ambition, it inspired me to start in on the clutter-filled room which houses my computer.  This seems to be a recurring theme in my life.  It is simply too easy to make this room the "go to" spot for anything which doesn't have a specific place elsewhere in the house.  Items also usually end up here when there is a mad dash to make the rest of the house look presentable.  Combine "stuff" and "haste" and you generally end up with "clutter".

It was rather comical to find, buried in the midst of the clutter, a book I once purchased called, "1,001 Timely Tips for Clutter Control".  Obviously, I have not taken the time to read and implement the resources offered! 

As I look around the room this evening, I can definitely tell there has been progress made.  There is also much evidence of future work to be done.  The thought occurred to me this is much like the battle we face on a larger scale in our nation.  There is much work to be accomplished if we are to return things to an orderly state.

There was a time in history when all was in order.  You can find a record of it in the first two chapters of the first book of the Bible, Genesis.  Then we get to chapter three, where the serpent entered the picture.  This led to disobedience on the part of Adam and Eve, and earth has lived with the consequences ever since.

So how do we go about "cleaning up the clutter" in our country?  I suppose if you want to get political, the Republicans would tell you to get rid of the Democrats, and the Democrats would tell you to get rid of the Republicans.  Truth be told, the answer will not be found in the political realm. 

True restoration will only come when hearts turn from having things "my way" to once again letting God have His way.  But according to His Word, we can expect things to get worse before they get better.  In 2 Timothy 3:1-4 we have a description of what things will be like in the "last days":

"But mark this:  There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God."

 

It's a rather cluttered list, and unfortunately a pretty accurate account of what you see these days.  The good news is Jesus is waiting for the go ahead from His Father to return and clean up the clutter.  You can read more about the signs of the end of the age in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. 

 

Until such time, do what you can, with the resources you have, to make a difference in the sphere of influence God gives you.  Work on replacing the above referenced list with a more pleasant one found in Galatians 5:22.

 

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,

patience, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness and self-control"

 

Yes, doing things God's way even looks less cluttered when spelled out!