A year ago or so I read an article in Reader's Digest about removing clutter from one's home or office. The writer of the article had hired an organization specialist to assist with getting her home office clear so that she could get some work done. As the story progressed the professional, hired to help declutter the office, began to appear more as a stern parental figure rather than a helper. The writer, by her own admission, seemed to retreat into the role of the child, wanting to hold on to things that no longer mattered, had never been used or had no purpose whatsoever. Other things were put in a place where they could be found and utilized when needed. Putting things in their places was not the problem however. The problem was in getting rid of all the things that were no longer needed, had served their purpose, or, were just plain junk. The writer went on to talk about the emotional problems involved in getting rid of the junk, but also the freedom in finding things and being able to have a comfortable space to live and work in.
There are some spiritual lessons in this as well. From the very beginning we find that God did things in stages, that he examined everything once it was done and then proceeded on to other things when all was complete. (Genesis 1). Later when things were no longer going well, corrupt and no longer useful or good to have around, God cleaned house and started over with those individuals who were willing to listen to what He had to say (Genesis 6-9). God acted in a very organized and careful manner in bringing Christ into the world. There were prophecies that prepared the way for Christ's unique entry into the world (Isa 7.14 for example). On the day of Pentecost Peter stated that even the Lord's death was "... delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2.23). In creating the design for the Church, God prepared the world in much the same way. He foretold it through the prophets (Isaiah 2, Malachi 4) and then brought it into being with power on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). God then cautions us, through the apostle Paul that God is not the "author of confusion" (1 Cor 14.33) and the all things should be done decently and in order (1 Cor 14.40). In light of that order, Paul, in talking to Timothy, indicates that we should learn to respect this order and therefore "behave" ourselves" in the church (1 Tim 3.15). All of that points to order, not clutter.
So what does that have to do with life? Our lives become cluttered with activities that take up all our time. Sometimes we become so involved with things that we lose the time to do those things that are necessary for our spiritual welfare. Paul tells us, " See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." (Eph 5.15-16). Clutter robs us of the ability to do something worthwhile for our spiritual future, and limits our ability to see what that might be.
Clutter, spiritually, takes the form of things in our lives that we ought to do away with but for some reason just can't find a way to part with them. Some of those things might be emotional ties to others, a feeling of loss at the idea of parting with some idea or practice etc. What then happens is that we carry around all of the baggage in our lives from all of the things that we really do not need to deal with. We then limit or eliminate our ability to be useful to God because there are so many other feelings, ideas and emotions that get in the way. Christ indicated that we cannot serve God and every whim that enters our mind (Luke 16.13). A failure to clear our lives of unnecessary influences causes us to doubt and be fruitless in service to God, similar to the double minded man of James 1.8.
Clutter also keeps us from getting things done in a timely manner. None of us knows how long we will live. Perhaps today is the last that we will spend in this world. How many times do we look at things and realize that there are so many loose ends that need to be taken care of. We however never have the time because we are victimized by our own lack of organization. It is amazing sometimes what we can get done when we have to, but we are usually under a lot of pressure during those times to get things done. How many days, hours, months and years have we allowed things to slide by without taking care of those things that need to be done.
Finally, we do not seem to do better than we are because we are depressed. When we look at the state of our lives we really may become overwhelmed with the idea of what it takes to get things cleaned up. We then avoid obeying the Gospel, or fail to become better Christians because we just don't know how. We can start by doing what needs to be done for our own spiritual growth and then removing those things that do not help us. Obey, read, study, pray. Clutter gone.
TLC