cleaning out the junk. Floating on grace.

In one week’s time, me and all of my roommates decided to move out by January. We have begun cleaning out shelves and drawers, preparing for change. As I attempted to tackle my closet, clothes began accumulating all over my bedroom floor. I would stop and critique each piece of clothing and make a decision. Standing there debating the fate of a sweater, I felt the Holy Spirit speak so clearly. My closet isn’t the only thing in need of some serious purging…

Some parts of our lives we can tend to look at and put up with. Sometimes there are things we are meant to let go of, but choose to hold on to for “sentimental value.” So instead of having extra space for something new, we let the old stuff dominate our closet. We refuse to throw it away. We try it on and begin to rationalize why we should keep it. And so we buy more hangers, and attempt to stuff each rack beyond its capacity. If we hoard things in our life the way we hoard things in our closets, we are missing out on something great.

Holding on to sin or past mistakes for the sake of "sentimental value" only holds us back from what God wants to do in us NOW.

I felt so free as I tossed each article of clothing out of my closet, as if somehow I gained back my sensibility. I always feel so refreshed when I get rid of junk. Yet when it comes to matters of the heart, we don't toss things out so easily. It is normally more of a tug-of-war. But needless to say, it's always worth making the choice to toss it. And as we let go... chains fall. Our burdens become lighter as we cast them on Christ. Today, I feel so light, I could fly. He is so capable of taking it all.

Every morning now as I walk in to my less cluttered closet, I want to be reminded to allow Jesus to pull the old junk out of this heart of mine.

We need Him. He's the only thing that makes us clean.