Boxes of books, old newspapers, a weight bench, Christmas ornaments, furniture, and endless odds and ends were strewn throughout my parent’s garage. Over the past twelve years, our two-car garage had accumulated so many things that a single car could not fit inside. It was a disaster. As I sifted through the chaos, I was brought down ‘memory lane’ glancing through stacks of old photographs, school books, and things I hadn’t seen in years (…”so that’s where my Walkman went!”). Cleaning out the clutter in the garage wasn’t all fun and games; it was nine hours of laborious work leaving my hands sweaty, arms shaking, and back sore from heavy lifting and organizing. Once everything had been thrown away, given to Goodwill, or found a home on a shelf, the garage could be used as its architect intended-as a place to store cars.
As I was cleaning, I began to think about my own life. I have let clutter take over my time throughout the years years. This clutter isn’t necessarily bad, sometimes it’s good, but it distracts me from whom I've been created to be.
As a Christian I understand that my purpose is to be in a relationship with God. I was formed to glorify and enjoy Him forever. I relate to God through Christ, He is my example and mediator. I must follow in His footsteps. The beginning of Hebrews chapter 12 states it best, “let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus…”
I had to ask myself, what is hindering my race towards Christ? I noticed how easily I let things-commitments to friends and family, activities, Facebook, even exercising-clutter my life, nudging Christ to the background. But I wasn’t created to place Christ on the back row. He is to always be in the front center.
The task remains. I must exert conscious effort to throw off these hindrances that clog my race towards a proper relationship to God and place Him rightfully at the epicenter of all. It’s time for spring cleaning.
Father, give me strength through Your Spirit to live as I have been created to live-running my race after you without any hindrance. Stand at the forefront of my life from this day, forever. Amen.
