My husband is at work,
my two older children are at college, my third child is working his part-time
job this morning, and my two younger
ones are just waking up… so I have a little more time for sharing! :-)
Yesterday my three
younger children and I began a study by Denver Sizemore called 13 Lessons in
Christian Doctrine. I had the
opportunity to share a metaphor with them that I'd like to share with you as
well.
When we become
born-again Christians, God places us right in the center of Christ's holiness
(as we learned on this list from our first study). We simply (but not easily) need to abide
there and live out Christ-in-us.
Often though we can't
see that Treasure that is in us because we are too clouded with self. I used the example of two homes with which my
children are familiar: their grandmother's
home and their siblings' apartment.
Their grandmother is a
wonderful, wonderful woman, but she is a hoarder, an exponential hoarder. Her home is clean but overly (and I mean
overly) cluttered.
On the other hand,
their siblings' apartment is what I call minimalist décor :-) They have one futon my son uses as a bed, one
rocking chair (a donation from me. Any
of you who know me know I love to rock), a kitchen table and chairs, one
mattress on the floor of the bedroom, and two desks. Nothing hung on the wall. No decorations of any sort (except my
14-year-old daughter drew a picture, as a Christmas gift, for her 22-year-old
sister to hang on her wall. We'll see if
it makes it to the wall).
I used these two homes
to represent the hearts of two different people. Let's say that each of these people became
born again, and God placed a small but precious treasure in each of these
rooms/hearts. Which one would have the
easier time finding the treasure?
Obviously, the one with less clutter in her room/heart would have the
easier time.
Metaphorically, the
clutter can represent self. Self often
gets in the way of seeing the Treasure we have in Christ. As we grow up into Christ our Head, the
"self" things become less important to us until they have no sway on
us whatsoever and we let them drop out of our lives. Less clutter; easier to see the Treasure.
Our study led us to
the verse in 1 Peter 1:14-16: "Do
no conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance." This verse is a good picture of death to self. The evil desires can be likened to the
clutter in our hearts-- those things that keep us from seeing Jesus, the
Treasure God placed there when we were born again. So instead of searching for Jesus in outside
things and cluttering our hearts more, we need to let go of those things that
clutter our hearts and keep us from seeing the Treasure within.
After this study with
my children yesterday, I began the TruthHimself study on money and possessions
and found that the Lord is indeed affirming this same principle to me. Thank You, Lord!
Blessings on your day
and may the Lord reveal Truth Who will set you free as you engage in this
study.
Linda
Moderator
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