Day Twenty two -  Take out the trash!

Isaiah 52:11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.

                  Every so often it is important to look at the church through the eyes of a visitor.  We get accustomed to the way it looks and overlook clutter.  A visitor will notice when there is “stuff” stored on shelves and papers strewn around.  To us it is normal,  but to a visitor it looks unkempt.  It looks like the people of the church don’t care. 

                 The same thing is true in our own lives.  We get “used” to the way we look on the outside and the inside.  We get used to the way we act and the things we think about.  If we could step back and see ourselves the way others see us,  it would probably shock us.  But even more important, we need to see ourselves the way God sees us.  If God were to show us a recent evaluation of the “stuff” He found in our hearts,  would it surprise us,  shock us, or embarrass us?  

                 I remember a “Far Side” comic that I read many years ago.  A man was in bed,  his wife standing by the side of the bed with an obvious displeasure on her face.  On the bed is a garbage can overflowing.  The caption from the man’s perspective, “Quick Fred,  think,  what is she trying to tell you?”  

                It is very important that we spend time doing the daily chores.  One chore in particular is taking out the trash.  Is there any “stuff” in your life that is really just plain old garbage.  Maybe it’s time to throw it out!

An Exercise to increase my Faith  -  Volunteer with a pastor to clean up a portion of your church.  Look at it through the eyes of a visitor and think about what needs to be cleaned up,  what needs to be put away,  what needs to be thrown out.  I little cleaning by each person would make a big difference in the way visitors looked at the church and the people in the church.