Getting ready for the road, cleaning out the excess.

Monday is usually our "day off", yet it seems to become cleaning day most weeks. Today, we are taking the whole camper apart, so to speak. Everything has to come off the shelves, be wiped off, the shelves cleaned, and most everything put back. Along the way, many things get thrown out or passed on to others for use. Each item is assessed so that we don't allow our home to become cluttered. We pulled out the couch and table, vacuuming under everything, inspecting every hidden corner for dust, cobwebs, and the stray food particle or toe nail. Nobody intends to collect toenails, to the best of my knowledge, nor do we plan to store dust, but these things creep their way into our home nonetheless. We all tend to collect things, but when you live in a camper and haul it around all the time, you have to be quite mindful of weight. For our family, every time we prepare to move, whether that be once a week or after 4 months in one place, we have to make sure that we reassess what we want and what we don't.

Our lives so often tend to get cluttered with "stuff". This is not just about material things clogging up our homes, but the many things that clog up our schedules. Just as we have to take time to assess whether we are spending our time properly. For our family, we do this often also. When we find that we have not been spending the time we should  in God's Word or praying, meeting with Christians, reaching out with the Gospel, that we have to take time and re-prioritize our lives. Sometimes we must repent of our selfish ways, and ask God to give us His eyes on the world and his heart for seeing souls saved, disciples made, and then sent out to do the same for God's glory. After all, we have been bought with a price, we are not our own. God rules our lives, and we are blessed to be able to serve our loving Creator and Savior. 

Some people fill their lives with TV, sports, games, and a myriad of other activities. None of these are bad in and of themselves, I guess. Surely, we have some things in this camper that we don't NEED, but that we enjoy and use often. The problem would come if we decided that our bikes, games, computers, and other things were more important than keeping food and water. Funny how we think of food as necessary, but often excuse ourselves from feeding on God's Word. Job tells us "I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food" and I have to remind myself that spiritual life also requires food and water for strength to live. Spiritual exercise is even more important that physical exercise!  There are some things that are necessary, and some that are not. For the Christian, there are not many things that we are commanded to do, though there are many that are certainly modeled as good suggestions, and other things that God has given us liberty. James 2 reminds us that though we are not saved by good works, that  a true Christian should desire to do things for God's glory. 

Every Christian is commanded to go and preach the Gospel. Every Christian is commanded to put away idols, not to have any god that takes the place of the true God that deserves our worship and our service. We can't judge each other about everything, but must all come before the Lord honestly and humbly to ask Him to guide our hearts in what we should  allow to stay in our lives, and what we must "put off" as the Bible says. So today, as we clean out the camper (our earthly home), we are taking time to consider our time, our finances, and everything else in our lives. We must leave behind anything that does not please God, and keep making more room for Him and less room for ourselves. If we are to be growing more each day into the image of Jesus Christ, then "He must increase, I must decrease" in every area of our lives. 

Mark