Organize

This word inspires or terrifies. Recently, I have discovered a series on TV called "Extreme Hoarders". It is awful and facsinating to watch the physical and emotional distress the cases presented go through as they attempt to gain control over the stuff that has come to govern their lives. And yet, it is inspiring to think that something as simple as a call to 1-800-GOT-JUNK could change their lives forever. The show rarely ends with victory, and yet, still, I watch, hoping for that "Aha!" moment when the person will suddenly be struck with how much they are missing out on by keeping all the stuff. Stuff that keeps them from relationships with their significant other. Stuff that hurts their relationships with their kids. Stuff that suffocates their pets and turns their living environments into fire hazards, not to mention health hazards.

I wish to say that this problem does not affect me. A visit to our home would not reveal a physical hoarder. But when I examine my life, my spiritual life, it is fraught with hoarding. I hoard time for myself, instead of giving it first to God (Creator and Dispenser of time) and then to others. I hoard selfish ambition, instead of submitting to God (Sovereign over all) and relying on Him to direct my life. I hoard money, spending it on vanity and pleasure, instead of giving back to God (Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide) what He has blessed us with. I hoard friendships, spending time with people who make me feel good, instead of searching out those who are lonely and who need to be loved for Jesus' sake.

Thankfully, God knows. He understands and has provided a simple solution. Romans 12 begins with ..."So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking around life - and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." Simple. Our lives, an offering. Before a HOLY God. He provides the Intercessor, Jesus. He provides the transformation,inside out. All we do is RESPOND. And the victory is ours.

Thank You, Lord.