Like many other folks, my late wife and I used to have a garage that served as a storage facility for items we didn't have room for in our house. There were times when we were ashamed to open the garage door because we didn't want anyone to see the clutter that had accumulated over a period of time. So, about every six months, we would set aside a workday to clean out the garage and reorganize the items we thought we just couldn't do without.Our minds are similar to a garage in that it too accumulates a great deal of worldly clutter. As we associate with the people of the world on a daily basis, it is inevitable that sooner or later, we will pick up ungodly thoughts or attitudes.
For example, any selfish thinking that focuses only on self instead of others — demanding our rights, or having an attitude of bitterness toward those who we believe have hurt us in some way. Before long, our hearts and minds are no longer clean and orderly. And while we think we can hide the clutter, eventually it will become glaringly evident to other people (1 Samuel 15:10-23).
Paul once asked: “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?” (1 Corinthians 6:19). If our body is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, have we ever wondered if He feels like He’s living in a messy garage? It’s wise to set aside a spiritual workday, getting to work cleaning out the worldly clutter that has accumulated in our minds. Discarding any thoughts of "bitterness" (Ephesians 4:31) — bagging up and throwing out old patterns of "sensual" thoughts (James 3:13-18) — changing our worldly attitudes to "godly" ones (Titus 2:7-12), and filling our hearts with the beauty of God’s Word (Colossians 1:7-10).
Beloved, let us make the garage of our mind clean to the core (1 Corinthians 5:1-13; Colossians 3:5-10; James 4:7-10) — then we’ll be able to leave the door open for all to see (Matthew 5:14-16).
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
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