Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.  2 Corinthians 5:17 HCSB

We use the term closet to denote a space that keeps things hidden away. For example, one might say that someone is “coming out of the closet”, if someone openly admits they are gay after trying to hide it.  Or, if someone has hidden sin in their lives, someone may say, “they have skeletons in their closet”.

Just for fun, I want you to ponder this question, if someone that you didn’t know well visits your home for the first time and you show them around, do you open your closet? Now some of you, may say, “Sure.”  This is probably those of you that have your clothes neatly arranged and organized and perhaps even color coded.  Those of you that have things strewn about and all over the closet floor might not be so eager to show someone what the inside of your closet looks like.

I love to have an organized closet.  It makes it much easier for me to find things and move around in there. When our house was built, my sister designed it and drew the plans. She gave me a very large closet.  Room is not an issue in there. The problem is that I go and buy clothes and eventually have to discard those that are worn out or that I just don’t wear anymore.  When my mom moved in with us, sharing a closet with her was not a problem. As I said, the closet is plenty big enough.  But it is more important now that I purge the closet regularly because as we get new clothes it can become overstuffed if I don’t get rid of those that we no longer wear. Purging our closets regularly are a good way to keep them neat and organized.

As Christians, our hearts are a lot like the closets in our homes.  Our hearts hold all the stuff, the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Here is where we need to ask ourselves a question, when was the last time you cleaned out or purged your heart?  Our hearts, like our closets, can become filled beyond capacity.  It’s up to us whether they become filled with junk or filled with goodness. When we get saved we ask the Holy Spirit to come into our heart and hopefully our hearts are filled with love for God and our fellow man.  But then the problems come along with the temptations that Satan sends our way and if we are not careful, our hearts become full of junk. We also tend to stuff our hearts with whatever we take in.  If we associate with evil people, then evil can creep into our heart.  If we watch things that we have no business watching or read things that we have no business reading, then our hearts can be filled with bad stuff.

Now I asked you if you would allow someone you barely knew to look into your closet? But I have one more question before I close. Would you allow someone to look into your heart? Would you allow a pastor or a respected Christian friend to see what you store in there? Or, will you keep it hidden? If you die tomorrow, are there things in your closet that you hope no one sees when it is cleaned out?  Well, my friend, someone is going to find it, right? The same goes with your heart. No matter how you try to keep what’s in there hidden, it will pour out eventually.  In Luke 8:17, Jesus tells us that, nothing is concealed that won’t be revealed, and nothing hidden that won’t be made known and come to light. In Luke 12:3, Jesus tells us, Therefore, whatever you have said in dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in an ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. 

I have always been amused by the fact that there are those of us that try to live one life at church and one life out in the world.  We do and say things away from church that we wouldn’t dare want our pastor to know about.  Well, my friend, don’t worry about your pastor, worry about God.  God knows every thought that pops up in your pretty little head.

Maybe it’s time for a good purge.  Maybe it’s time to get rid of some of those sinful ways that you have been hanging onto. You don’t need them anymore and it’s important that you understand that you should never wear them again.  Put on the new and enjoy being that new creature in Christ. I don’t know about you, but I really enjoy a clean, neat organized closet.  I also do much better when my heart is filled with the Holy Spirit and not the things that the devil would like to fill it with.  Don’t let the devil fill your heart with junk. Toss the junk and keep only what is good. In Philippians 4:8, Paul reminds us to focus on whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely and commendable.  If we keep those things in our heart, there will be no room for junk. Keep it clean.

Have a great day!