Cleaning Out the Clutter

[StillStanding]

Dan Scott preached a great sermon this past Sunday about cleaning out the clutter.

He used the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. We he was brought to life, he was still bound by grave clothing respectfully put there by family and friends. Lazuras had to have help to get rid of the thing that was put there for his protection before he could walk out of the grave and into new life. If Jesus hadn't ordered the family to roll back the stone of the grave and remove the grave clothing, Lazurus would have eventually died again from lack of food and oxygen.

To make a long message short, at the end of the sermon, he had people look in their pockets and purses for clutter that has been there for a long time with no real use, and bring it to the alter area. My daughter had an empty plastic Coke bottle in her purse! ha!

I thought about how I have purchase DVD players for the TVs in our house. I have put the old VCR players in storage under our house. I have kept them "Just in case" we want to view an old VCR tape.

After church yesterday, my wife asked me if we REALLY ever see a time where we would bring an old VCR back into the house to watch an old tape. My response was that we have a pretty big selection of VCR home video and movies.

After thinking things out, we will have our old home videos transferred to the DVD format, and donate the old VCR movies.

The point is that we keep clutter around that we realistically will never use again. This clutter can bog us down where we have so much clutter that we no longer have space for new things.

[rgcraig]

Clutter in the mind too that doesn't allow for new things to come in.

[commonsense]

Good lesson!

(since I'm in need of clutter anonymous)

[noeticknight]

Originally Posted by rgcraig

Clutter in the mind too that doesn't allow for new things to come in.

Einstein once said, "If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what then is an empty desk?”

Of course, he also believed that trivial knowledge cluttered the mind; information like his home address, his phone number,...

[StillStanding]

Originally Posted by rgcraig

Clutter in the mind too that doesn't allow for new things to come in.

This was the point of Dan's message. We can get bogged down with things that were given to us for protection during a time in our lives. The world has changed around us, and many times we need to discard things that are now irrelevant in our walk with God.

This "clutter" is things that were given to us by well meaning people, but in time can be a hindrance in our relationship with God and others, as it can prohibit growth.

[ChTatum]

Good thoughts!

[NewWine]

Thank you for posting this..I have a major issue with clutter and am always thinking of what I can throw away. I know people that have way too much clutter in their homes to the point they can barely move around. It's really frustrating; reminds me of the television program "Clean House". But I personally have found that when things around my home start looking cluttered, then something in my spiritual life is not right.

[StillStanding]

Originally Posted by NewWine

Thank you for posting this..I have a major issue with clutter and am always thinking of what I can throw away. I know people that have way too much clutter in their homes to the point they can barely move around. It's really frustrating; reminds me of the television program "Clean House". But I personally have found that when things around my home start looking cluttered, then something in my spiritual life is not right.

My wife will keep magazines piled up JUST IN CASE she wants to look through them again one day! Guess what? She NEVER looks through them again and they just pile up creating clutter! I could throw them all away and she would never know it!

I'm the same way with my golf magazines.

We all hesitate to get rid of things that we MIGHT have a use for some day, so junk just keeps piling up!