I Just Cleaned That!
Devotional #17
I don’t
know about your household but in mine there is usually disorder instead of
order! I love to have a clean home. A home where there’s a place for everything
and everything’s in its place. I admit I
do not choose cleaning over, well, anything.
I know it’s important. I know it
needs to get done but I don’t get so consumed with the need to clean that I
can’t do anything else if the cleaning is not done. Please, if you, my dear friend, are like this,
then know that I admire you! I wish I
was more into the cleaning and the organizing.
Being honest with you now, I admire the clean, organized, neat homes but
when I see a home like that I always wonder just how much time it took to get
it looking like that. I have family
members and dear friends that are this way.
When I ask them this very question, “How long does it take you?” They
always look at me funny and say, “Like, duh!
Not long at all.” Hmmm….I don’t
know about that. It always takes me a
while. But then again, I’m just not fast
enough with cleaning. I’m the kind that
takes their time cleaning, put the music on and jam with a Mandisa CD and have
fun singing and well….I don’t usually finish everything that has to do with
cleaning because I’m having too much fun.
Now, when
I’m channeling the energy of these dear friends and family and try to do the
same in my household, clean, organize things, it’s as if my family has an issue
with it. Mind you, in my household we’re
not filthy, dirty, disgusting people.
We’re just people that can handle a little bit of clutter here and
there. A pile of papers on the counter
doesn’t make any of us lose sleep. Even
though, this is “our normal,” I still try to clean up and have the place look
like there is some kind of order. It
takes time to do this and when I’m done (sometimes I do finish, lol!) I admit I
do feel good about myself but the minute I go back to wherever I started in the
home there’s, guess what? The start of
clutter or a new mess! That’s when I
say, “I just cleaned that!”
I have
found myself in the middle of some friendly disputes with my family members and
friends that are naturally good at cleaning and organizing things. We just don’t see eye-to-eye on this
issue. My dear friend, I know you’re either
like them or like me but, for the sake of this devotional can we just agree to
disagree. I’m literally laughing out
loud right now! This reminds me of the
disagreement between Mary and Martha, Jesus’ friends that lived in Bethany
In Luke
10:38-41 it says, “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 only one thing is needed, Mary has
chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’”
According
to Ms. Martha, she believed she was doing the right thing. She was preparing a meal for her guests,
which included Jesus. Now, please keep
in mind, Jesus traveled with the ultimate “entourage!” He
always had at least twelve men with him.
Can you imagine the appetites of these men? There was a lot of work to do to not only
prepare the meal but also set the table and everything else that goes along
with a big dinner party. I don’t blame
her for wanting Mary to help her but yet Jesus didn’t pick her side. Notice it doesn’t say that Jesus rebuked her
for trying to get all of this done, but what He did was point out that though
what she was doing was important, it wasn’t more important than spending time
with Him. She was so busy with her
“to-do-list” that she was neglecting the guest of honor, Him.
Mary on the
other hand did not neglect the guest of honor.
Notice it doesn’t say that she didn’t help Martha at all. If she was like anything I am today, she
probably did help and saw that there was a good stopping place, even if it was
just for a few minutes, and chose to sit down with Her Lord. She sat down and gave the Lord her time. Oh, what a lesson we all need to pick up from
this story. Mary chose Jesus. Not the “to-do-list.”
My friends,
cleaning is important. Organizing the
house and keeping it that way is important.
The “to-do-list” is a constant thing.
It’s always growing. There’s
always something to do. But, we should
never allow anything to be more important than Jesus. Everything else can come after spending time
with Him. That was what Jesus was
teaching Martha. Yes, Martha, you were
working hard. You were taking care of
everyone and everything but, you neglected the most important thing that you needed
to do. You needed to, as we all do
today, spend time with the guest of honor, the One that came to die for your
sins and mine, the Savior, your Savior sweet Martha.
Dear friend, I
appreciate your time! Thank you for
coming on the blog and reading this devotional.
Know that I am praying for you.
Please, if you have not done so already, would you be so kind as to pass
this blog on to your friends and family?
God bless you!
*If you would like to
read this same devotional in Spanish or know of someone that would please visit
my Spanish blog at www.ministerioreflejandolaverdad.blogspot.com
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