This is what happens when you open some closet doors!
It has been exactly one year now that my youngest daughter left for the Navy, and I am left with an empty nest. I am reflecting on countless memorable moments of her growing up years. She gave me so many reasons to be proud, but one memory that pops up tonight is not one of her most glorious moments.
As is typical with creative personalities, when she was little, her bedroom had a tendency to be … well … a disaster! Her brothers used to call her room “The Abyss.” Anything that entered may never. make. It. Out!
I wouldn’t embarrass her for the world, but her example illustrates such a powerful spiritual lesson.
The rule of the house was that when she wanted to get together with her friends, her room had to pass inspection. She could bury herself under a mound of clothes and clutter for weeks until an invitation came her way. Then, suddenly, the miraculous occurred! Within minutes, her room would be sparkling! I was astounded at her ability to knock it out of the park when she put her mind to it!
One day, however, I decided to investigate. Oh my goodness! It was like discovering buried treasure! Let’s see, how can I describe what I found under her bed, in her closet, and tucked into every nook and cranny available? Would Hiroshima give you the picture? Perhaps Hurricane Andrew or an F5 tornado? While I am at it, how about the Tasmanian Devil from the cartoons? Yep! That was her secret. Just shove all the clutter into a hiding place, and Viola! It’s all clean! Just understand that you are taking your life into your own hands if you should choose to open that closet door!
Does any of this sound familiar in our lives? Often we work so diligently to have a spotless exterior while neglecting what is truly valuable on the inside. We want to present ourselves well and give the impression of having it all together, yet we may be hiding a load of chaos on the inside. We would be mortified if anyone knew what was really going on inside – the flaws, the hurts, the habits, the hang-ups. As long as we clean up well on the surface, we can just stuff the rest into the abyss of our hidden, internal selves, never to be seen by anyone else.
It is futile to patch up all the cracks on the outside while neglecting all the internal repairs. We all have conditions of the heart that need the touch of the Master’s hand in order to have true wholeness. Why settle for mere surface appearance when we can have the spiritual salve of healing applied to where we really need it? Why cram all the clutter into all the hidden recesses of our hearts when we can be truly healed and repaired from the inside out? When we are refurbished on the inside, it will show on the outside.
Spiritually speaking, in our human nature, we also have the tendency to strive to follow all the rules and do all the right things to make ourselves right with God, but that is not going to cut it. We will never make ourselves holy by following a list of religious rituals. It has to begin with the heart, and it is only possible in a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
For those of you who are unsure of your relationship with Christ, you can make certain here, How Can I Be Saved? However, for those of you who already have a relationship with the Lord, the mindset of legalism can continue to be a stronghold. Our pretense of having everything all together on the outside can be a hindrance to being truly holy and pure altogether. Instead of having hearts after God’s heart, we become fixated on man-made rules and traditions. That leaves us cold and distant from God.
Isaiah 29:13 describes this perfectly: “The Lord says:
‘These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.’”
What makes it worse is that when our focus is on outward works, we often fall into the habit of comparing and judging others. We may think that we are doing is all right if we aren’t as bad as someone else. We may look at what someone else is doing and turn up our noses because we don’t do such a thing! However, that takes the focus off what true holiness is.
Romans 3:20-24 explains that we have all sinned, but we can never be made right with God by observing the law. We are only made right with God through faith in Jesus. He is the only one who is able to cover our sins because He is the only one who is truly righteous. Therefore, we are all in the same boat and are all in the need of a Savior. We have no basis for pointing our fingers at anyone else.
In Jesus’ day, the religious sect of the Pharisees was the supreme example of this legalistic fallacy. Jesus sure had a lot to say about it too! (Matthew 23)
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. Matthew 23:25-28 NLT
So, where does this leave us as mature Christians? Are we beyond the need for this teaching since we are already saved? As long as we live in our earthy bodies, we need to be aware of this hypocrisy and yearn for a heart after God’s heart above and beyond anything and everything else. When we put relationship before behavior, the behavior will take care of itself; but when we strive to be made righteous by following a list of rules, we will never know the true heart of God. Holiness is a condition of the heart, not a to-do list!
How are we then to live? Jesus did teach us that the most important commandments are to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31) When we focus on love, this will fulfill all the requirements of the law. (Galatians 5:14, Romans 13:10). Ultimately, let us yield our lives to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to do the work within. He will form us more and more into the image of Christ!
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Ezekiel 36:26-27 NIV
So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. 2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Galatians 5:16-26 NIV
Dear Lord, let us have sincere hearts that follow hard after You! Purify us from the inside out. In Jesus’ name.
Feel free to leave a comment below in response or visit my Bible study group on Facebook to discuss this. I would love to hear from you!
God bless!
