Tuesday, April 19, 2016

When Cleaning Becomes Your God

I was trying to get my house in order the other day, and my youngest kept toddling up to me and grunting.  You guessed it, he wanted to be in mommies very busy  hands.
I gave him treats that would occupy him for a minute or so, but the following me around and grunting/tantrums wouldn’t stop (he doesn’t like to be worn by the way).
After about half an hour of this I lost it, I snapped, I yelled at him.  And for what? Because he wanted to be held and snuggled by his mother?  Not exactly my finest moment in parenting, but I share so you can relate.
About 2 seconds into my tirade I abruptly stopped. I realized in an instant that I had made cleaning my house, which is supposed to bless my family, more important than taking a moment to actually bless my son through touch.  My son just wanted a moment of love, but in my mind I was supposed to be cleaning because that’s what good moms do, right?
I bought a devotional from the thrift store the other day that was only 25 cents.  The title of the book  insinuates that its a book for for women about becoming closer to God.  When I picked it up in the store I thought, “Awesome!” Drawing closer to God has weighed heavily on my heart lately so I thought this book would be a perfect fit.
The book though is maybe 5% Bible and 95% home management tips.  For example there were chapters on looking nice for your husband, preparing home cooked meals, and teaching your children table manners.  All good things.I like home management tips, I’ve written  home management tips, if you subscribe to this blog you get a home management book for free, my best selling book to date falls in the home management category (The ABC’s of Freezer Cooking).
There’s nothing wrong with a home management book, but this was supposed to be a devotional about drawing closer to God.  Drawing closer to God is about abiding in him, not how to teach your children table manners.  It’s completely backwards.  It’s like me trying to be a blessing to my son by cleaning all the while ignoring the opportunity to show him love in the moment.

 It’s about Loving God with all our hearts.  It’s about loving others as ourselves. If our hearts are black as coal it doesn’t matter how spotless our homes are.

As we draw close to the Lord we will naturally desire to become a better person as God begins to work away at our flesh.  We’ll want to become the Titus 2 wife or the Proverbs 31 woman.

Drawing closer to the Lord doesn’t start with rules, it starts with Love, His Love.  (Tweet This)

We must abide in His Love alone if we ever hope to achieve anything in life, whether it’s a well maintained home or a family ministry.

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:37-40
When we love God first everything else will fall into place.  Have you ever put the cart before the horse when it comes to home management?

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