“My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:5-6
It was a rare occasion that I had this last weekend. My wife was going out of town and I was going to be ”home alone.” Now before you let that sentence sink in too far, you have to remember… I’m not 15 years old! There was no, “Party at K.C.’s house,” plan. I had lots of things to do to keep me busy. I just didn’t have my wife around while I did them. It really was no big deal… until it was!
She had joked to me, when saying goodbye, that maybe the plane will go down and she won’t be back! Yea, yea… sick humor, right?” But when you’ve been around each other for so many years, strange stuff can come out of your mouth. I went about the weekend running here and there and doing my thing as usual. That is, until Sunday afternoon… about 5 hours before she was scheduled to come home (or not… haaaa)! I took a look around the house with my eyes filtered though HERS… and gasped in shock! Gosh… I’m such a pig!
There were at least 5 pairs of shoes with miscellaneous socks laying around the house. The empty container that held Friday’s dinner (sushi from the grocery store) still lay on the counter. Pants, shirts, towels, cups, papers and other stuff of mine were scattered all around the house. The funny thing is, it really hadn’t bothered me… until now. I presumed the plane would land safely and she would be home, so I set about cleaning up the place… MOSTLY for HER eyes!
One of the biggest problems Christians face is the problem of CLEANUP. The Bible CLEARLY tells us that when we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior, we become perfectly pure in His Father’s eyes. We are guaranteed a safe ticket to land in Heaven where NO punishment for sin will ever come due. Unfortunately, I still live in this old house called ‘the flesh,’ and it can get REALLY messy. When I ultimately take a look at God and His Word, it isn’t uncommon to freak out and despise my fleshy self! And THAT’S when REALLY bad things can happen!
Seeing God in His perfection genuinely makes me feel messy. Sometimes I can repulse MYSELF so badly that I can’t see Him correctly. The old system of works says that if you mess up, you will HAVE to pay the consequences. Gearing up for that can often drive me even FURTHER from God. Since I don’t FEEL like I DESERVE His love and favor, I put the focus on my failure and NOT on His forgiveness.
John 3:16 says it well. “For God SO Loved K.C.” O.K., I added that part. But you can insert YOUR name as well. I can’t EARN God’s love. He IS love. There is nothing I can do to make Him NOT love, want, care for and desire me. EVER! In fact, joy begins to to creep into my life and motivate me to start picking up the messes, NOT because I am messy, but because I know He is coming home to rest in my heart. Which is right where He belongs… and where He want’s to be.
My wife got home safely and the house looked close enough to her standards that she didn’t remind me of my piggishness. But that last sentence has NOTHING to do with the reality of how God works when HE comes homes to rest in my heart. In fact, after we commune together and enjoy each others company, He is more likely to to say, “sit and take a rest, I’ll take care of this mess!” WOW! What a God.. right?” Maybe next time I’ll remind my wife…. NAHHHHHH! Hee hee!
How do YOU… see you?
