Clutter

Clutter is anything that gets between you and the life you want to be living. -Peter Walsh

Recently my son announced his friend gave him a cooking lesson. Completely on board, I shared his excitement, until I realized one important fact. The cooking took place at my house. In my completely cluttered, unkempt kitchen.

To be honest, I have an aversion to clutter. An untidy house clouds my thinking and leaves me positively unhinged.

However, in the aftermath of my accident and surgery, clutter became tolerable by necessity. I simply lacked the stamina and energy to keep it at bay.

But as I listened to my son relate his experience, I renewed my resolve against clutter. As the decluttering process began, I saw parallels between it and my walk with the Lord.

Out With the Old, In With the New

Clearing out the clutter began by creating a place for everything. For me, this meant getting rid of the things we don’t use, in order to make room for those we do.

Our relationship with Christ mirrors this principle. In order to walk with Him, we need to rid ourselves of our old ways of thinking, being and acting:

Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him, in keeping with the truth that is in Jesus, to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be renewed in the spirit of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4: 21-24 NIV)

Controlling Clutter Requires Constant Effort

I can’t explain it, yet I know it to be true: clutter invites more clutter. Controlling it requires diligent effort.

To live a godly life requires the same intentional earnestness as we battle our spiritual enemy:

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith (1 Peter 5:8-9 NIV)

Clutter Impedes Progress

Consider the definition of clutter:

to fill or cover with scattered or disordered things that impede movement or reduce effectiveness

Our spiritual walk can suffer in a similar way. We throw ourselves off course when we fill our minds with worldly thoughts and follow our sinful desires. The author of Hebrews teaches us:

let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1b NIV)

As order emerged from the chaos in my house, I realized one universal truth:

Clearing my life of clutter creates the calm from which I can freely focus.

As I continue down the road, I pray to throw off all that clutters and hinders so I can freely follow the One who leads me. Wherever you are in your journey, I pray the same for you.