Cleaning House

So clean house! Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy and hurtful talk. You've had a taste of God. Now, like infants at the breast, drink deep of God's pure kindness. Then you'll grow up mature and whole in God. 1 Peter 2:1-3msg

There is no better time to begin to make a clean sweep than this time of year leading into a new year and a clean slate. If you look deeply, you can see that God has had His hand upon you and your journey all year long and though there have been times that nothing made sense, you can be assured that one day very soon you will see things much clearer. As believers we are supposed to be getting stronger and more and more healthy every year...fully mature and fully devoted to God. Imagine how silly it would look for your teenager to be drinking out of a sippy cup and having a pacifier tied to his t-shirt. Yet, many followers of Christ seem to be bottle fed year and after year and deny themselves the wonderful experience of the real meat of God's Word.

Do you feel like you have made some progress in your spiritual growth this year? If you are hesitant about that question, look deeply into why that part of you refuses to grow up. We must stop blaming others, our pastor and our environment and take responsibility for ourselves. We will get out of our spiritual life what we put into it. If the house is dirty, how about cleaning it up?