18 “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 7:1Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
Imagine that, the One who has all power, hear it again, all power, lets us join His family! This is the top dog of all dogs, the alpha males of all alpha males, and the queen bee of all queen bees. No one messes with Him, or His for that matter. Nothing is too difficult for Him to accomplish. But as I continue to read Paul challenges us to purify ourselves, perfecting holiness. It sounds as though we have to do the cleaning up, as though we had to use our power to do the job. But remember the human chapter break. How many of us take our own garbage to the landfill? Most of us put it out on the curb for someone else to take to the landfill. We do our part, offering it to the trash man. The trash man does his part, taking it to the dump. We offer, he receives and does the work. Our part of the equation is the choice of obedience. When we make that choice, God, by His Spirit, empowers our actions toward eternal goals. They become more than human actions, more the actions done in this temporal, temporary age. They become eternal in value and extent. We have the promise of a relationship with God. It is out of that relationship that Paul begs us to clean up our act, both in the physical realm and the spiritual realm. We become obedient by listening to His voice of direction and correction and we are then empowered to live a life of eternal significance.
We enter into a process of Spring cleaning. The old closets and attic spaces of our lives get emptied, sorted, prioritized, and set in order. Only those things that are needed for eternity get put back in. Everything that has hurt us gets resolved. All the waste gets emptied of its value and we are able to dispose of it. Are you willing to let Jesus into your closets?
The Arnold Journey 