Ever had the seven-year-clutter? (my mom used to call me the "7-year Itch"- don't ask me why, but I suspect it wasn't flattering). Well we've lived in this house for seven years (I think) and it's gotten to the point where it's hard to walk across a room without tripping. So I called my dad (After I made several piles of junk) and he came over with an empty pickup truck. Several hours later, he left with a FULL bed of yesterday's treasures. And the scary part is, the house is not perceptively any different. Well it's true that the piles are gone. It's true that the stacks of boxes on the porch and in the garage are, for the most part, gone.
Do you ever wonder if your heart gets cluttered like your house?
What would that look like to others? Well for one thing, when a needy, hurting friend asks you over for coffee,you should not have to look four months ahead in your iPhone calendar.
If your "favorite" chatchka" falls and bursts into a million pieces...or your iPhone decides to take a bath with you---You need not sob for hours and feel badly for days and days. The are, after all, things and not people.
And if you say something cruel or heartless to a friend and you do NOT weep for days....you might want to assess your priorities.
What do you do if the last two examples are true of you? What is the cure?
I was convicted one time several years ago. (okay 10 years ago) that my possessions owned ME and not the other way around. So in my heart.....I gave them ALL to Jesus. And then I invited my friend over and said to her after giving her a tour of my possessions. "TAKE what you want of what I own....what I own is yours." Now my friend was too embarrassed to take anything more meaningful than to take a teapot from my collection of teapots and one or two other items...I don't even recall what. But I discovered that to give my friend free reign over my possessions, it meant that I had to give every one of them to her mentally...dethroning them from my heart. And I would dare say that this should be done every ten years....as a good housekeeping measure for my heart.
I once did something very heartless to my best friend. At the time it seemed like no big deal. But it made her cry. And now ...years later, I approached her on Facebook with my apologies...heartfelt and sincere apologies....and I discovered that some things are unforgivable....because she did not respond to my apology. Now this was caused by a clutter in my heart... a heart that did not understand the value of friendship and how badly you can hurt someone...just by carelessness. My friend will not set me free by forgiving me....so the only thing I can do is take it to Jesus. Tell him, I know he died for my sin....and that in his eyes, I am forgiven. But it is not really the same thing as it would be if my friend would forgive me.
Things like these clutter our hearts. They leave it in a tangle. And sometimes it is very hard to free yourself from the "ties that bind" you. It is important then and again to assess our hearts....and our lives....and if you find that meaningless things own you....then you really need to do a little housekeeping.
Here is a song that summarizes what I've been saying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx8tFO7Plm8
Source:
Faith Publishing House, Evening Light Songs, 1949, edited 1987 (
Do you ever wonder if your heart gets cluttered like your house?
What would that look like to others? Well for one thing, when a needy, hurting friend asks you over for coffee,you should not have to look four months ahead in your iPhone calendar.
If your "favorite" chatchka" falls and bursts into a million pieces...or your iPhone decides to take a bath with you---You need not sob for hours and feel badly for days and days. The are, after all, things and not people.
And if you say something cruel or heartless to a friend and you do NOT weep for days....you might want to assess your priorities.
What do you do if the last two examples are true of you? What is the cure?
I was convicted one time several years ago. (okay 10 years ago) that my possessions owned ME and not the other way around. So in my heart.....I gave them ALL to Jesus. And then I invited my friend over and said to her after giving her a tour of my possessions. "TAKE what you want of what I own....what I own is yours." Now my friend was too embarrassed to take anything more meaningful than to take a teapot from my collection of teapots and one or two other items...I don't even recall what. But I discovered that to give my friend free reign over my possessions, it meant that I had to give every one of them to her mentally...dethroning them from my heart. And I would dare say that this should be done every ten years....as a good housekeeping measure for my heart.
I once did something very heartless to my best friend. At the time it seemed like no big deal. But it made her cry. And now ...years later, I approached her on Facebook with my apologies...heartfelt and sincere apologies....and I discovered that some things are unforgivable....because she did not respond to my apology. Now this was caused by a clutter in my heart... a heart that did not understand the value of friendship and how badly you can hurt someone...just by carelessness. My friend will not set me free by forgiving me....so the only thing I can do is take it to Jesus. Tell him, I know he died for my sin....and that in his eyes, I am forgiven. But it is not really the same thing as it would be if my friend would forgive me.
Things like these clutter our hearts. They leave it in a tangle. And sometimes it is very hard to free yourself from the "ties that bind" you. It is important then and again to assess our hearts....and our lives....and if you find that meaningless things own you....then you really need to do a little housekeeping.
Here is a song that summarizes what I've been saying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx8tFO7Plm8
- All to Jesus I surrender;
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.- Refrain:
I surrender all,
I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
- Refrain:
- All to Jesus I surrender;
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now. - All to Jesus I surrender;
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine. - All to Jesus I surrender;
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power;
Let Thy blessing fall on me. - All to Jesus I surrender;
Now I feel the sacred flame.
Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His Name!
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