In MY House? Forget that. Where do you get off asking me a question like that? What's in YOUR house? Let's see how YOU like being asked such a thing!
Well, yeah, I suppose it was me who brought it up. It's just that it's such an invasive question. What I have in my house--and what you have in yours--is, of course, very telling. The answer actually speaks volumes about what is in my mind, heart, and soul (but that's all.).
I'll tell you what made me think about this question. It was a verse in the Bible. The book of Chronicles is a rehashing of Samuel's account of Israel's earlier history. Particularly about the period when David lived. It was written after the Jews returned from their long, 70 year, exile in Babylon.
One of the events revisited from 1 Samuel is David's moving the Ark of the Covenant from Kiriath Jearim. A lot of stuff had happened regarding the ark. The Philistines had captured it but then became very eager to be rid of it and put it on a cart pointed toward Israel and let the cows haul it away without any guidance. Eventually, after another set of tragedies, it ended up being stashed away, somewhat desperately, in the house of a guy named Abinadab. His son, Eleazar, got stuck standing guard duty over the ark for at least twenty years, perhaps much longer!
But finally, after he had been King for a few years, David felt it was time to bring the ark to Jerusalem, the new capital of a united Israel. When he did, in rather a careless fashion, calamity struck and the ark, once again, had to be housed temporarily. This time it was assigned to a Levite named Obed-Edom who lived along the road to Jerusalem. The ark remained in his house and under his care for a mere three months, but Obed-Edom having, and keeping, and guarding the ark of the covenant--in his house--led to the most productive quarterly report of Obed-Edom's life!
First Chronicles 13:14 says:
"The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house for three months, and the Lord blessed his household and everything he had."
Do I need to say any more? Or are you already looking around your house and thinking about what you keep in there, like I am doing right now?
I like trinkets and mementos and cool things. My desk might be described as "cluttered" when I fail to make sure my collection of symbolic curios is properly curated. I have a couple of small crosses and a great big nail, a little wooden fish, and an antique caliper, all displayed on the base of a monitor. Then I have a carnival glass bowl, a shifting sand thingy, a toy P-38 Lightning, and a chunk of wood with a favorite verse (1Kings 2:2a-3a) burned into it. Eclectic, right? And yes, I also managed to save room for a pen, a planner, a monitor, two lamps, and a laptop on my desk.
Each thing in the office, like each item in the house must be regularly vetted. "Would God approve of 'this'?" I should be asking. Is each object 'innocent' or at least, innocuous? Am I keeping something that might bring me down, or could somehow keep me from honoring or pleasing my Lord? Does every article have a good purpose, and not a nefarious one? Am I keeping it, or is it keeping me?
Am I collecting things that I hope will provide me with what I should be trusting God to provide? Or worse; am I honoring and even exalting any created objects as if they compared to my Creator? We don't really live too far from idol worship after all.
Obed-Edom kept the ark in his house when he was asked to. And we are told in the verse above that God "blessed his household and everything he had." Wow! I hope that God's blessing on "everything I have" is not hindered by his inventory of my house. I don't think God would have or even could have blessed O-E the way he did if he came through his abode and found pornography (or the desire for it) inside.
Yes, when we open our lives to Jesus Christ, repenting and receiving his forgiveness, in can be said that we let him into each metaphorical room of our heart and ask him to "clean house." Over time, we let go of every sinful inclination of the heart and mind and body until he makes us clean. And we continue then to confess each sin so we can remain clean and function well for his glory.
But we can also look around our very physical homes and ask him to help us gauge the true value or purpose of every thingumajig, doohickey, and whatchamacallit we own. Let us clean out our attics, closets and garages not just to get rid of the clutter (to make room for more of the same?) but let's also be sure there is nothing we own that serves only as a distraction or a temptation, and that would hinder God from pouring out his blessings.
"Seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
Mathew 6:33
Thank you for coming by!
Mike
