Clean This House

Several weeks ago while cleaning a customer's house, something happened that really spoke to me. I knew I was to write about this experience, but I have not taken time to do so until now. 

My customer stated she needed to get into the storage closet because something was emitting a horrible odor. As she began removing items from the closet she saw something had dissolved and was leaking down the wall. She kept digging and realized a bag of potatoes had been placed into the closet and forgotten. Some of them were no longer in solid form, but liquid. You can imagine how horrible the smell! While she dealt with cleaning this particular area, I proceeded cleaning the rest of the house as usual. It was later in the cleaning process I heard God speak. 

God showed me how this is a perfect example of how many of us live our lives. Something that once was a good thing (the bag of potatoes) and perhaps even healthy for us, can become something horrible. When placed into the darkness and forgotten, it can begin to rot. Our attention can be captured when we begin to get a "whiff" of something not being right. If we notice something is going bad, but choose to ignore the change, it will only get worse. Like an infected wound if not treated, something that could be easily rectified becomes much more complex. No matter how thorough a cleaning I would have done in that house, if the stench was not found and removed, the cleaning I did would have been useless. You can clean the outside as much as possible, but if the inside is not cleansed, the whole house will still stink. 

Oftentimes this is what happens in our lives. We spend billions of dollars every year on cosmetics and related outer beauty items. Yet we feed our inner selves with trash television, movies, and books about things in opposition to God. We do all possible to avoid the inner "stench" in our souls. However, sin is never satisfied. What may begin as just a small scent of something going bad will gradually turn into a horrible odor that will take over our lives.

Unfortunately, this is also what can happen within the body of Christ. We can see the warning signs of something beginning to "smell." Changes are made that are just slightly off line with the church of the Bible, but we accept it as being okay. Gradually the small variation grows into something that no longer resembles it's original design or form. Just like the potato was once solid and turned into liquid, it is no longer able to fulfill the purpose for which it was created.  Not only did the potatoes need to be removed, but the closet had to be scrubbed. Anything the potatoes had touched had to be cleansed in order to remove the smell. The stench not only affected the closet, but every room connected to it. The "smell" in your life not only affects you. It affects your children, your spouse, your friends, and everyone connected to you. The "smell" in one house of God affects all of us in the body of Christ. 

Thankfully, when we have a stench or odor in ourselves, God does not simply throw us away as we had to do with the potatoes. However, He does call us to be repentant and humble regarding our stench. God is not deceived or mocked (Galatians 6:7). He knows the motives of our hearts. He knows when our repentance is sincere and when it is given in order to make ourselves look better. I've apologized to God many times regarding sin that I knew I would be willing to commit again. It was not until I fell utterly broken before Him that I understood the difference in an apology and a repentant heart. 

Is there an issue in your life that is beginning to smell? Is there an area that needs to be addressed before it destroys the entire house? What good would it be to have the most excellent house around, but the smell is so terrible people refuse to enter? My prayer for you today is to earnestly seek God regarding the hidden "smells" in your life that need to be addressed. Don't let a small thing turn into something much worse.