Cleaning House
I do know what it’s like to clean house. Everyone needs to clean out and sort out what should be kept and what should be discarded or moved out. There are times that my closet gets full because I keep buying clothes and not discarding some or giving away extra. One of the hardest discussions that I have as a REALTOR is asking sellers to “de-clutter” their house. “Cleaning house” is also used in politics when it comes to our elected officials. When they stop doing what they were elected to do, it’s time to get them out of office and get new leaders elected.
There was a house cleaning that was corrupt from the core. When the mother of King Ahaziah learned of her son’s death, she set herself up as king. She killed the princes who were in line to be king. One of the princes was a baby and he was hidden in the temple for 6 years during her wicked reign. When the young prince was 7 years old, the priest Jehoiada started the “house cleaning” and assisted the young king in restoring the relationship of the people to Jehovah God. Check this out…
16 Jehoiada then made a covenant that he, the people and the king would be the Lord’s people. 17 All the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.
18 Then Jehoiada placed the oversight of the temple of the Lord in the hands of the Levitical priests, to whom David had made assignments in the temple, to present the burnt offerings of the Lord as written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing, as David had ordered. 19 He also stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the Lord’s temple so that no one who was in any way unclean might enter. (2 Chronicles 23:16-19 NIV)
Sometimes when I read parts of scripture like this, I’m disturbed at the violence. There seems to be no lengths that people will go through for power and control. Not much has changed from then until now. There are those who view leadership as power and those who view leadership as serving. Our elected officials should see themselves as servants to the people. Their office does give them certain authority for sure, but that authority should be handled delicately because the people that put them in authority can also take them out of that position.
I was reminded today to keep a clean house inside my heart. My heart is the place where my activities begin. If I do or say something stupid, it started in my heart. I was reminded that the Lord is the keeper of my heart and He wants to keep it clean. A good heart cleaning is necessary regularly to keep me humble and holy before the Lord.
Pressing On!
Dwayne