Clean House

There is this show that my wife and I watch sometimes called "Clean House." Basically people submit videos and pictures of their filthy house hoping that the Clean House crew will come in, clean everything and redecorate their house. Normally the house that is chosen is extremely in need of help. Clothes are thrown everywhere, junk litters the floors, and most rooms aren't even accessible due to all the crap everywhere. Then the Clean House crew gets to work. They pull everything out of the house, sell some of the junk at a yard sale, and then take that money to redecorate their house into something that is much more livable. 

What I find funny is that these people didn't need professionals to come and clean their house, they could have done it themselves.  The bottom line is they are just too lazy to do it. I admit I wouldn't mind if professional cleaning people cleaned my apartment from time to time. But what happens to most of these houses featured is they eventually go back into the same mess they were in the first place. The problem lies not in the Clean House crew but in the people living in those houses being cleaned. Although they have had their house cleaned, they fall back into the same patterns because they have not changed their lazy mindset and eventually they are stuck back in the same mess again.

Sometimes we need to examine our own lives and see what in our "house" needs to be cleaned. Maybe there is a sin that hasn't been properly dealt with or something that you know should be taken care of and you haven't gotten around to it. There could even be things that you don't even realize that might take a closer inspection. Well it' s time to clean house. Our bodies are the temple of the living God for goodness sake! 

But here is what happens when we clean house. We confess our sins to God, we commit never to go back to them again and things are great, at least for a short time. But soon after, we find ourselves committing the same sins over and over, asking God for mercy and grace once again. We've all been guilty of it and I will be the first to admit that. The reason for repeated actions of disobedience towards God comes when there has been no renewing of the mind. We fall into the same traps when we fail to take God's word and let them transform us. 

Transformation happens through meditation, prayer, and a plan of action. Andy Stanley said something profound that I keep with me all the time " Your direction not your intention determines your destination." I love it. We can have good intentions, expect God to do great things, but if we never take action and ownership of God's truths, our old habits will always creep back in, making us filthy again. 

Examine your life and remove not just the uncleanness in it but let God put something new into your heart that will transform the way you act so you don't have to repeat the process all over again.