Today my blog post is really a confession. Anyone who knows me well can attest to the fact that I am a bit obsessive. My obsession is cleaning and organizing. However, if you have ever been to my house you will clearly see I am far from perfect in these areas. If I was anywhere near where I wanted to be, my closet would be organized by color and season, my linen closet would look like a shelf in Macy's, there would not be a spot on the upholstery or a dust bunny on the floor, and my ceiling fans would be clean enough to pass a white glove test. NONE of this is true about my home and each day I endlessly endeavor to draw a little bit closer to that goal...but even the rare times when all the things above have been accomplished I find more to obsess over: Cleaning baseboards, wiping walls, degreasing cabinets in the kitchen...and will I ever get to moving the stove to cleaning the filth that must lurk there?!?!
I truly believed that this was a healthy obsession. Having a clean home is a good thing! I drew comfort from knowing that there was a place for everything and everything was in its place. Seriously, when my house is a mess I can not function. It is crippling because it is the ONLY thing I think about (these sentences are in present tense because I still struggle with this obsession...Lord help me).
I have finally come to the point where I realize I will never have a perfectly cleaned and organized house. Ya, that is actually a revelation for me. But a bigger (and much more important) revelation was when the Lord revealed that cleaning was actually becoming an idol to me. I honestly would put off my Bible study, prayer time, or even leaving the house until I finished my housework. The devil is so very good at twisting what seem to be good things into becoming idols in our lives (especially because these things don't seem to be outright sins). But I have Help wiser and stronger than the Father of Lies: I have my Father in Heaven. My Father is working on me each day to help me leave behind my idols that I have placed above Him. It is a struggle I still face daily. I know I am a "Martha" and the Lord is calling me to be more like "Mary."
Luke 10:38-42
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
I think each of us struggles with our own idols. If we didn't, we would be Jesus - perfectly glorifying our Father in Heaven. Cleaning is just one of mine. Now that I have a son, I see how motherhood can even become an idol in my life. So with this post I am challenging you (three) readers to recognize the obsessions in your life and ask the Lord to replace them with a Magnificent Obsession- Him.
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