The Meal (part 7)
The Meal (part 7)
Clean Up
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
Well, you’ve made it to the end. In this last part of the series we will cover the importance of clean up.
Clean up depends on many things after a meal. It is usually the responsibility of the person who either hosted the meal or if it’s a family meal, like our home, who ever cooks doesn’t have to clean. Some people will take the time to hand wash the dishes and others will rinse plates and silverware for the dishwasher. And some will even leave the dishes and clean up until the next day.
But in this series, clean up has an entirely different meaning. Clean up means to get things out of your life that will discourage your walk with God. It means organizing your life and making sense out of the things that can become distractions.
Once you begin your walk with God you may notice some things dropping out of your life automatically, for me it was profanity. I still struggle with this from time to time, but it is nowhere near, not even close, to what it was before. Other things you will have to deliberately remove from your life.
I don’t recommend putting off the clean up in your Christian life or your relationship with God until the next day.
You may have to limit who you can be around or where you go because of the impact it can have on your walk with God.
For me, I won’t go to a place where serving and consuming alcohol is the primary business ( a bar). I won’t go around a crowd of people or friends that are consuming alcohol socially.
Usually people that see this change in you or know about your walk with God won’t do these behaviors in front of you. Most people you start to associate with closely are similar in their Christian walk, that these things aren’t present in their life either.
You may have had a past group of friends, or current, that you should re-evaluate because of the things in their life.
Your relationship with God doesn’t mean you have to loving the people you are close with. You should always love them the way God commands you to love them.
However, some people in your life can prove to be stumbling blocks for your relationship.
You are commanded to be separated from the world once you become a citizen of Heaven. Once God has custody of you through your salvation, you live for Heaven, not for the world.
This cleanup can be a continual process, and in some instances it may only occur once.
Whatever the frequency, staying committed to prayer and reading God’s Word will help you in your walk. The further you move toward God, the further you move away from things of this world.
I hope you enjoyed this series. Have a blessed day.
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?”
2 Corinthians 6:14
“that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:”
Ephesians 2:12
“O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
John 17:25-26