HAPPY NEW YEAR!!?

This is my New Year's Blog. Since this is a time for new beginnings, let me share with you a wonderful revelation in my own life.

Before the story, let me tell you the lessons I learned:

(1) Our sins and bad traits of character are formed over time and if not taken cared of, they get worse

(2) We can become blinded to sin, or worse yet, ignore the sin that is not readily visible to the rest of the world

(3) It takes time and effort to remove sin from our lives and change our bad traits of character

(4) No one else can do for you what you need to do for yourself

(5) It's refreshing to be live victorious over besetting sins and bad character traits

(6) When you are set free, people may not even notice, but that doesn't diminish from the change that has taken place in your life


Now for the story.

There is a 6" space between the kitchen wall and the refrigerator in our apartment. For the past five years since we have been living here, dust and dirt, lost toys and crayons have accumulated between there. In fact, it was downright disgusting.

You couldn't see it unless you purposely looked behind there. Guests hopefully never saw it because they never get that far into our kitchen. Only the occupants of our home would ever notice it.

Yes, we have seen it before. Yes, we knew that it needed to be cleaned. Yes, we knew that it would take effort to get behind there and clean it. Honestly, sometimes we didn't notice it. All this knowledge did not prompt us to do anything about it. I even hired a cleaning crew to come in and interestingly enough, they didn't touch it either.

On day in a fit of cleaning rage, I set out to clean that space. I called maintenance to move the refrigerator, but one guy was too lazy to come and the other one was not on duty. This project couldn't wait. I said a silent prayer, recited Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," and moved the fridge. It felt like it was made of feathers.

The job took longer than I thought it would. There was more dirt that became evident once the fridge was moved. Dust had even clung to the wall.

Let me say that the place is nice and clean and sanitized now. It looks beautiful. Every once in a while, I look behind there and feel a sense of gratitude. I wonder why I waited so long to do it. Some members of my family still have not noticed the difference, but I do and I'm thankful that it is not clean.

That's it! My spiritual lesson for the year. Now the other areas of my life that need cleaning will take the same approach and effort--bridling my tongue (James 1:19,26) and ruling my spirit (Proverbs 16:32; 25:28).