Closet Cleaning

Every day at the Christian Service Center we receive bags and bags and boxes of clothing, etc. donated by members of the community. We couldn't function without all these donations.

Especially in the late spring and early summer, many of these donors tell us that they cleaned out their closets and found so much stuff they don't need any more. I call it purging. It's a great feeling to purge our closets of clothing and other items that so quickly accumulate in our homes. And just get in the way.

When I reflected this morning on Eddie Sharp's sermon at University yesterday, this imagery of closet cleaning came to mind. He preached on Eph. 4 and how to allow the Holy Spirit to have free reign in our lives. As I listened to Eddie speak I noticed these admonitions:

"throw off your old evil nature and your former way of life, which is rotten through and through, full of lust and deception. Instead, there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes. " - vs. 22

The main verse he focused on was verse 30 -- where Paul urges his fellow Christ-followers to not grieve the Holy Spirit. The New Living Translation says, "And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live."

Eddie pointed out that if we're going to allow the Holy Spirit to fill us and take control of our lives, we need to get rid of sins that grieve Him. In other words, to make room for the Spirit of Christ it's necessary to "clean house" and purge ourselves of resentments, jealousy, anger, lust, and so on.

In my life I've found that when I let be consumed with a sin such as coveting, my mind and heart become fixed (and at times obsessed) with getting a certain thing -- and in subtle ways I push Jesus away and don't allow Him to be my "magnificent obsession," as Steven Curtis Chapman says in his song.

I'm finding that I need a daily purging of the closets in my heart so as to not grieve that precious Holy Spirit. And when I let Jesus in to more and more parts of my life, I realize that there's less room for all that junk that just clutters my soul. And Who better to fill every room of my heart than Jesus.

Jim