Decluttering our lives is similar to de-cluttering any room or space. It helps to have a vision, and to be able to see what we want in our life; our space. We soon realise that some things don’t belong in a room together, just as some things, pursuits, and acquaintances don’t belong together either!
Jesus doesn’t push His way in to our lives, He knocks and waits to be invited. We can ignore His knocking, or we can open the door and let Him into our life. However we need to understand that when He comes in, there are some things that won’t gel with who He is, what He says, How He acts and what He asks. To put it simply there are some things that don’t go together with having Jesus in our lives.
Jesus said, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” (Revelation 3:20)
The Spirit of God, of Jesus, is Holy Spirit. He is the one who dwells within us. He won’t push, He won’t barge into the centre of the room, or demand a seat at the head of the table, He won’t shout over the top of everyone else or everything in our life, and He will remain quiet and step back from lengthy conversation with us if we make him feel unwelcome in our life. He won’t leave, but we can grieve Him by our behaviour, our actions and who and what else is in our lives.
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” (John 13:16)
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 3:6)
God promises He will never leave us or forsake us; but we can forsake Him. And we can definitely purposely put Him in the corner, out of our conscious thought and engagement. We can ignore His voice and/or any conversation He may be trying to have with us.
If you invited someone into your home and life to stay forever, how would you treat them? Would you go out of your way to make them feel comfortable; would you think about what they like? Would you invite people over or participate in certain activities which might offend, hurt or damage them in any way?
We need to understand that just as some things don’t go together, there can be things we do, and perhaps even people we may associate with that are not going to gel or even respect Jesus’ presence in our life. They simply don’t go together!
The question is, who and what do we want most in our life. Jesus, and Him being central; the centre of every room, of every space? Or do we want certain habits, pass times, other relationships, hidden addictions, lifestyle choices and just “other stuff” to be made to feel more comfortable and welcome in our lives than Jesus?
It’s our choice. But when we take the time to de-clutter we can choose to take everything in our life “out on the back lawn”, so to speak. Then we decide prayerfully and thoughtfully about what and who is going to be given pride of place; who or what is going to get through the door again, and where we need some brand new things: new pastimes, friends, hobbies, and habits.
We get to choose which of these things goes together!
Prayer: Lord please help me to be honest about what is in my life; my space. Help me to recognise and acknowledge who and what doesn’t go together, and to understand that if I invite you into my life I need to make you welcome; to give you first place to be at the centre of every space, every “room”, and every area of my life. In Jesus name Amen.
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