Cleaning Out The Attic

Today we finally took down our Christmas decorations (don't laugh - this is the first weekend we've had at home since Christmas). As we attempted to cram yet another year's worth of holiday memories into our packed attic, it occurred to me that we really hadn't cleared out our junk since we moved to our new home two years ago. Though it wasn't how I originally intended to spend my Saturday, I resolved to dive into the array of boxes, bins, and trunks tucked under our eaves and attempt to thin out the chaotic jumble.

Now this isn't the first time I have cleaned out the attic; my family and I have been blessed by 20 years of service in the military, and Uncle Sam has strict limits on the amount of stuff he lets his nieces and nephews lug from place to place. As I carefully pulled the treasures of previous years out into the daylight to examine them, it struck me that I had practiced this same ritual many times before. Some items I had no idea why I had kept in the first place and I quickly discarded; others, like old love notes exchanged with my wife, brought a quick smile as I read, then tenderly placed them back in their box. Still others were items I had kept around simply because I had paid for, and was unwilling to part with them, even though they were of no further use to me.

As I packed away the last of the Christmas decorations, it occurred to me that the process of clearing out my attic is a lot like the process many of us go through as we try in fits and starts to become more like the Lord who saved us. I can empty my spiritual attic out for a short time, but sooner or later it becomes full of stuff again. Jesus illustrated this principle in Matthew 12:43-45, explaining how a merely religious person can clean up his life for a time, only to find himself in a much worse state than before, as seven evil spirits come to dwell in the heart that previously housed only one.

While the truly born again need never worry about being possessed by a demonic spirit, I believe there is a principle here worth remembering: our spiritual attics will be full of something. Some of those things have no business in our lives and need to be discarded quickly; things like old grudges or covetous fantasies. Others are like the things that have served their purpose and are simply no longer needed; things like guilt over sins long ago confessed, forgiven, and forgotten. Still others are worth keeping around; happy memories of fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ, or memories of God's divine intervention in our lives. But once we clean out the debris in our attics, how do we make sure it doesn't come back? The answer is simple: stuff the attic with things we'll never have to throw away, and there'll be no room left for trash:

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:11)