Messes in our Lives

I have found over recent years being the working mother of toddlers that it can be very difficult keeping mess and clutter to a minimum.



Apparently its a common problem, because the above picture was one of the MANY on google's image results for "messy toy room."

The thing that came to my attention this afternoon as I made a to-do list in preperation for family and holiday festivities was that our homes are a good picture of our lives. There are very few who truly have a clean home. Even those with a home that appears clean has its junk drawer, clutter in the closet, and spidewebs under the couch. The fact is that a huge messy toy room or a dustball in the corner is really the same in God's view. Sin is the same - be it prevelant and consistent, or a once in a lifetime sort of thing. God is totally HOLY and we - however holy or unholy we lable ourselves or others - are totally not.

Its a hard thing to get a handle on so let me share a further illustration. Imagine with me that we have a large blender. You put several scoops of delicious chocolate ice cream in it, a splash of milk and you blend it up. Now take that amazing milkshake and throw the leg of a cockroach into it, and blend it up again. Pour a glass.


If you have enough shake to make 4 servings, you only have a 25% chance that you have that leg in your glass. And, realistically, if you have 25 sips in your glass, thats a 1% chance that your sip will contain that leg.

Are you gonna drink it?

Of course not.

This is possibly the best way I've ever heard to describe levels of holy. Its either holy or not holy. Cockroach or no cockroach. It doesn't matter to you how much of that bug is in your cup, or how little chance there is that you'll sip it, you aren't going to drink that shake.

Now; back to our messy house analogy.

What rooms of your house need cleaning? Is there a room that needs a major overhaul? Or is it a few odds and ends? Do you have a junk drawer so to speak? What kinds of things need to be resolved and taken care of? What kinds of things are big messes?

Time to do business. Let's stop just closing the door and pretending that mess isn't there. Let's take care of it.