Open House

My house is on the market because we are moving to a different state. It has been quite a process getting the house spit shine ready for marketing. I have cleaned, dusted and vacuumed until I don't want to have to do it again anytime soon. But that is not to be when you want to make a great first impression. Strangers will be coming in to peer into my closets, my cabinets and every other private place that anyone with gracious, southern manners would never dare to venture. Therefore, it behooves me to have all those secret, closed spaces neat and tidy. I wouldn't want people to think that I have anything to hide. Thinking about this makes me pause to think when God looks inside my secret place, otherwise known as my heart, what does He find? To the world, I could look pulled together, attractive, neat and tidy. But if I really examine my heart, is it cluttered with the worries of the day, sinful thoughts, or so dirty that it would take years to clean? God's word says in Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? " That is a warning that no matter how good I may look on the outside, I could be deceiving myself that I am not in right standing with God. Thankfully, when I confess my sins and my shortcomings to God, He forgives me. He promises to wash me clean. He loves you and me unconditionally and wants the interior to match the exterior. Just as it is a process to clean a house for market, the process of cleansing one's heart takes time and effort. We can't do it without the supernatural act of the Holy Spirit, but as we draw closer and closer to our Lord, He will make us beautiful beyond compare.

Challenge:

Is there any unconfessed sin in your life that keeps you from a close relationship with God?
Be willing to allow God complete access to every area of your life. I promise that even though it may be painful to bear it all, it will be well worth the freedom from bondage you may be in.

Verses to meditate on:

Psalm 139:22-24 (New International Version)
23 "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Psalm 51:7 "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow."