“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and
finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he
comes, he finds it empty,
swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than
himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the
last state of that man is worse
than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”
– Matthew 12:43-45
When I was raising my kids, it took me zero seconds to
realize that the only way to keep a clean house was to move and take them with
me. Kids make a mess, it’s what they
do. They need house training just like
puppies do…but for other reasons, of course.
I still cleaned house, but I wasn’t so foolish as to think it would be
the last time I’d have to do it. Houses
get dirty because people live in them.
But little by little they were trained. They learned not to write on the walls, not
to spread blue Jell-O into beige carpet, not to shoot plastic pellets in the
bedroom where my vacuum would suck them up for years, and even to throw their
laundry into (not at) the hamper. But it
wasn’t done in a day. It took time.
When we clean up our lives, the same thing is true. We need training to know how to live, and
which bad habits to break. As you learn,
you lay down bad habits, and you pick up good ones. You lock the doors of your heart against
those things you did and allowed in before.
For example, I don’t watch horror movies anymore or any “entertainment”
based on murder. Some things aren’t meant to enter the gates of
a clean house. If the filth stays
outside, the house stays clean.
Now it will take dying for me to be spotless, I’ll tell you
that! This process of sanctification is
an ongoing process. It’s a process of
giving away our will to take His will.
It’s a process of learning to love God more than we love ourselves so
that we can submit to Him.
How does that occur? The
same way it occurred to my kids to keep things clean. There was punishment when they didn’t, and
there was love, always love. God will punish
His children to keep them on the right path (Hebrews 12:6). But He also blesses those who are obedient to
Him (Proverbs 16:20).
There have been a few people in my life that I know were –
and are – Christians, but I’ve seen them turn away from their faith, away from
God, and live like satan’s children. It’s
a sad thing to happen, because as the obedience leaves, the correction sets
in. And as the correction continues, the
love fades. God’s love is still there, I
know that. But God does say that he will
give them over to their reprobate mind (Romans 1:28, 2 Timothy 3). While they had cleaned their house, the didn’t
keep it clean. They didn’t lock the
doors to the things that didn’t belong inside.
They had an open house.
I cannot think of anything sadder than getting to Heaven,
having been a victorious, richly blessed Christian, and having to bow my head
in shame at having turned from God. It would
be a sad meeting time to have to look into His eyes and realize what I gave up
was the greatest love of all for what I thought was a good time.
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