Spiritual House Cleaning
Luke 10:38-42, Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain
village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she
had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But
Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost
thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that
she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art
careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath
chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
I love how God puts examples in the Bible that help us to learn His lessons for
us. Here are two women, both raised in the same family but yet very different.
There are a few spiritual applications we could glean here, that’s for sure.
Martha could be an example of a person who is not saved and does not desire the
things of God. It could be that Martha represents the saved woman who has not
studied to show herself approved unto God. It could be that Martha represents
the woman who has been saved a long time and has become comfortable in her
Christian walk and feels she doesn’t need to grow spiritually anymore so she
“works” a lot. Which Martha are you today, ladies?
Luke points that that Martha was “cumbered, careful and troubled about many
things.” She was expecting Jesus and many others in her home. She was busy in
her thoughts, laying out plans, what dishes to use, what meal to make, housework
needed to be done, and everything in its place. In fact, these thoughts obsessed
her so much so that she went to Jesus saying, “There’s so much to do, tell Mary
to come help me!” Think about this for a minute. If you were receiving guests in
your home and your sister wasn’t helping you with preparing, would you go to
your guest and ask them to tell your sister to get to work? Is it me or was this
a strange request to make? I think this goes deeper than meets the eye, don’t
you? I think Martha wanted to draw attention to herself and all the work she had
one by herself. SHE wanted the credit, in my opinion.
Jesus saw through this and told her that she was caught up in what needed to be
done but was leaving her spiritual life unattended. He came right out and told
her that Mary had chosen the good part and that this spiritual nourishment would
not be taken away from her.
Is your spiritual housework all done, ladies? Is your house nice and spotless
but your Bible study life is not? Do you put emphasis on cleaning your house but
you leave your spiritual housework undone? What can we do to have a spiritually
house clean?
1. Ask God to show you those secret sins in your heart and confess them.
Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. (Psa 19:12)
2. Ask God to show you all your sins and to wash you thoroughly from them so you
don’t repeat them. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my
sin. (Psa 51:2)
3. How can we continually cleanse our hearts? By taking HEED to the Word. Not
just reading it but taking HEED to it. BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man
cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. (Psa 119:9)
4. Again, the Word washes. It helps us to stay clean. What happens to water as
it goes into a colander? It goes through the colander, right? But the colander
is cleaned by that water, even though the water does not stay contained in it.
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
(Eph 5:26) The same with our spiritual lives. We may not remember everything we
read in the Word or study, but continual reading and studying helps us to stay
clean.
5. Getting closer to God will clean our hearts. It will bring conviction,
repentance and a need to ask forgiveness from the Father. Draw nigh to God, and
he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your
hearts, ye double minded. (Jam 4:8)
6. Abstain from worldly lusts. The things of this world have a lot to offer the
flesh. Think in your hearts today what worldly things God is revealing to your
heart right now. Is it TV? Is it music? Is it a book? Is it a distraction that
keeps you from His Word? Any of these things distract. (2Co 6:18) Having
therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all
filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2Co
7:1)
Are you having difficulties saying no to the things this world offers? Are you
having difficulties in your spiritual walk in general? Do a spiritual house
cleaning today. Ask God to show you what He wants cleaned out. You probably
already know what needs cleaning. Then ask the Lord to help you keep your
spiritual house clean. He can, He will and He promises to help you. Ye are of
God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in
you, than he that is in the world. (1Jo 4:4)
Kate Plourde
April 17, 2006
