Out of Sight but Not Out of Mind

There is no “pre-cleaning” required.

Years ago I went to visit a friend and when I arrived she asked if I would entertain myself for a few minutes while she finished up some last minute tasks before we left.

I assured her that was fine so I sat and answered some emails while she frantically moved around the house. When I say frantic, I mean that in all senses of the word.

She was everywhere, throwing things in closets, doing one fail swoop in the kitchen and tossing everything in the pantry. It was crazy and I couldn’t figure out what she was doing. I asked if I could help and she said sure. She told me that anything I saw that looked out of place (clutter), just pick it up and throw it in a closet or cabinet. She would sort it out later.

After a few minutes of “tossing” things, I asked her why she was doing that. What was she hoping to accomplish? Wouldn’t it just be easier to wait until she actually had time to correctly put the things away?

She replied that she had a lady that helped her clean her house two times a month and she was coming later that day. I remarked that I figured that would solve it. Why did she need to put all those things away if she had someone coming to clean?

“I have to clean before she cleans, or it really isn’t of any benefit to me.”

I found that interesting, but I got it.

If she wanted things cleaned at the base level, she had to make sure they were ready/cleared off so that they could be cleaned.

It’s so powerful that we don’t have to function that way with God.

God doesn’t wait for us to clean things up before we experience God’s transformational love.

God loves us, convicts us, and transforms us SO THAT we can begin to live in a new way. We don’t have to be a certain way before we experience that love.

God liberates us from the things that hold us captive in our lives.

The love of God truly sets us free.

May we have undivided loyalty to the one who showed us the power of his love by living and dying selflessly.

How have you experienced God’s liberating grace in your life?

Can you identify things in your past that you’ve been set free from?

Are there things today that are holding you captive? What does freedom from these things look like?

“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” Romans 5:6