In our Western Christian Culture, we are drowning in a sea of Christian paraphernalia. We see scriptures written on magnets, pictures, postcards, key chains, breath mints, t-shirts, caps, bumper stickers, plaques, door rugs, wall rugs, throws, pillows, wind chimes, candles, coffee mugs, necklaces, pins, watches, bracelets, earrings, socks, picture frames, stickers, toothpick holders, gum, posters, soap and more.
We have surrounded ourselves with Christian symbolism, which has become a weight to us and we don’t even realize it. Our Christian culture promotes and makes money off of these trinkets that we buy and give as gifts. These trinkets have very little meaning in our lives unless given to us by a special person on a special occasion.
Our homes, churches, places of business and our cubicles at work are cluttered with such objects. We hope that they witness to or encourage those who may come into contact with them. In realty, they have very little power to impact and produce any lasting change in those who see them. Even though the words written on these objects may be from the Bible, without the Spirit they have no life. (2 Corinthians 3:6). These objects with scriptures written on them have no power to witness. In reality they are just religious icons.
If individuals cannot see those scriptures and words in your life, then you my Dear Sister are promoting a religious faith that has no power to save, heal, change and bring hope to an individual’s life.
To rise above our Christian Culture, we need to do some drastic changing. To begin to build a life, that is authentic and to have an authentic walk with the Spirit, you need to get rid of the things that clutter your life. The real you can not breathe while drowning under this sea of Christian paraphernalia
The Word tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:2 that we are to be “epistles known and read by all men, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the Living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts”. It is when your husband, your children, you neighbor or your co-worker sees Christ in you, then they have seen the power to change, to be healed, to be saved and to be free. When they see Jesus in you then they have seen His Word in action.
It is a new year and it is time to de-clutter and begin the process of excavating. Jesus said “everyone who hears My words and acts on them, he is like a wise man who dug deep and laid a foundation on the Rock”. (Luke 6: 47)To build your house on that Rock, which is Christ, and not your Christian culture you must excavate for the real Jesus in the real you.
In this New Year, I challenge you to go through your home, your workplace and de-clutter these things that are weighing you down. You may be surprised at how much you have and how good you will feel in letting go of these objects.
I dare you to breathe this New Year. I dare you to search for the real Jesus, in the real you.
Let’s go excavating!
I dont have to be totally “perfectly great and holy ” before I am used of god.
feeling encouraged knowing that god uses me where Im at.
hi Jane, I know the feeling of “if only I knew this stuff way back when…” it can be agonizing. But the reality is that where you are right now, is farther than most women will ever go. It takes a lot of courage to let go of all the “stuff” and find out what is really there. I for one totally admire you for going for it. What an example for your children! You can bet they are watching your life.
I guess i just want to say that you are not alone. We are all at this excavation site together. It’s a lifelong process–and God uses us while we are in the process. And HE progresses us forward. HE changes us.
When I am tempted to panic over mistakes of the past, I pray that God will deliver me from fear of the past. The time is short and we don’t have time to be pulled back into regrets and “what ifs”. Enjoy the degree of freedom you walk in TODAY, and it will increase tomorrow. You are on your way!
God bless you, my Sister!
ok–feeling better about it all this afternoon. the key—”be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. that should fix it up . if I am a doer of the word, and not a hearer only I should see some changes inside myself.
hmmmph…..
I know i cant move onto anything else till I get this right.
I feel like i need to start all over again to get it right.sometimes it feels like so much work. how do I know when Ive got it right? Ive been taught all wrong stuff, got wound up in some soulish junk I thought was right, and now I see I have been ripped off. arghhh…maybe I never even prayed right ?? all those years, and I forgot to enter his courts with thanksgiving in my heart, and praise first and get forgiveness. im so confused about it all sometimes.
Im having a very LOst moment.
I am getting more aware of the lifelessness of the things we use to make people think we are living the christian walk. the things Ive made to make folks believe Im a christian. yes, I see that if its not IN you, it cant come OUT of you. you essentialy have nothing to give away.the spirit inside must be fed by putting the word inside you continually. it oozes out when theres overflow and by keeping your spirit filled up. I see I must get filled up with the right thing. withthe true spirit . the holy spirit.how many of us are really wandering around half hallow, but have all the right bumper stickers and bibles to look authentic to others and ourselves? I am sickly amazed recently. and most dissapointed .I really yearn to have it right.
Still finding more clutter—its amazing ! and even more , is the motivation behind having it
lets de-clutter the lifeless things !! I am amazed at the amount of stuff I had.