Clean Your House! - 2 Timothy 2:19-22

"19 Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness." 20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21 If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 22 Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart."
2 Timothy 2:19-22

Sometimes Trish will get frustrated with me because of our cleaning practices. If she asks me to clean the living room, I'm like... "cool". So I pick up everything that makes the living room look bad from the outside and sweep the floor, but that is not what she is asking me to do. She wants me to dust, move furniture to clean under it, kill germs by wiping things down with the appropriate chemical, and pick up. Can you imagine... she actually is asking me to clean the room, not just make it look clean!

I can't help but think of this when I read this passage. God wants me to actually clean my life, not just make it look clean. I find it refreshing that God challenges me to pursue those things that are underneath the surface... the "hard to get to" places of my life, not the outward behaviors that would make me look clean.

So what does cleaning my life look like? It first involves me knowing Christ! He becomes the motivation for a clean house... Why would I want to clean my life? Because I want to honor Him! Second, it involves me fleeing the things in my life that are dishonorable to God. Paul describes them as wood and clay, ignoble, or in more practical terms... evil desires of youth. ESV translates them as "youthful passions"... those desires that we pursued before we knew better. It goes beyond the obvious of lust, it goes to the core... pride, self-centeredness, the desire to be in control, and so on. I need to cleanse myself of such things! But in the midst of my cleansing, I need to pursue the "hard to get to things". God has called me to pursue! He wants me to pursue righteousness (a life committed to obeying Him), faith (a life committed to trusting Him), love (a life committed to serving others), and peace (a life committed to reconciliation). He even wants me to pursue this along side other like minded people... community! God knows that I need others to help me clean my "house"!

Lord, cleanse me of all that is dishonorable and help me to pursue what is honorable to You! Light a fire under me so that I am not satisfied with just making my house look clean! I desire to be used, so prepare me! Here am I!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hey Pastor Jon! I never knew you wrote journal/blogs! I loved it!!
~Steph Kish
February 9, 2011 at 7:01 PM
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