“You know, you really should clean this office…” is a statement I hear often from my wife. I always tell her that I know where everything is and that if I clean it up, I will lose my fancy filing system. It never fails; shortly after this conversation, I find myself looking for something without success. It is then that I realize that it is time to clean my office. Spiritually speaking, every night before we go to sleep, or every day when we wake up, it is time to do some spiritual house-cleaning. David said it this way: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).
I want to recommend a little booklet to each of you reading this. It is entitled, “My Heart, Christ’s Home.” This little booklet was written by Robert Boyd Munger. When I first went to Bible College, this was required reading. Because it was such a small booklet, I decided to read it first. When I began reading, I was simply fulfilling a reading requirement … but as I understood the principle behind the book, it changed my life. Whenever I read this chapter in Psalms, I am reminded of the truth of that booklet.
Munger’s booklet describes our lives as a house. He mentions the Library as the place we store all the information that come to our attention. The Kitchen is the place our appetites are fed. The Study is the place we either pass by, or sit down to consider important thoughts … and so on. In this booklet, Munger goes through each room, surrendering each part of our life to the lordship of Christ. He describes giving over the control of each room to Christ. As the book comes to an end, there is one remaining closet that has not been surrendered. He describes the battle of releasing that room to the authority of Christ. Victory comes with the signing over of the title of the “house” to Jesus Christ. The key to living a successful Christian life lies in the depth of our commitment to allowing our God to “search” every part of our life; revealing the area’s that need to be changed; and giving in to the convicting and cleaning work of the Holy Spirit. Take the time today to pray through these two verses, asking God to reveal any weakness or sin that needs to be forgiven and forsaken. Allow God to do the clean-up work you need today. We are incapable of changing ourselves from the inside out, but He is certainly able and willing to do that with each of us today!