2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
Like everything else, housing has trends. Currently, the trend is for an open concept with large windows to allow lots of natural light to enter the house. Fifty years ago, the trend was for separate living spaces with lots of walls that divided the rooms.
Whether open concept or divided space, one of the most common complaints about any house is the lack of storage. There never seems to be enough closet space. Some people simply add more closet space to their home by framing new closets or making the existing closets bigger. When you do this, you take from the living area of the house. There is only so much square footage in any house, so if you add closet space, you delete living area. You cannot have it both ways. This is a common reason for people selling their home and purchasing another.
Wouldn’t it be great if the closets in our house would automatically become bigger as we put more in them? If they would miraculously grow in size as our storage needs became greater, that would be wonderful! However, it that were the case, we would never get rid of anything!
Spiritually speaking, your body is your house. The Apostle Paul referred to our bodies as “tents.” For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Corinthians 5:1)
Although our spiritual house has many rooms, God created us with an open concept floor plan with lots of windows allowing His Divine Light to flow everywhere. We should have only one closet in our house: our prayer closet. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
The closets in our spiritual house are where we store and hide all that stuff we don’t want anyone to know about. These are “sin closets” and they are dark. These sin closets are like those fantasy closets I spoke of earlier, where the more we put in them, the bigger they get.
Like our earthly house, as our sin closets grow larger in size, they take from the open concept, light living area God planned for us.
Example: The first time a person succumbs to the temptation to smoke a marijuana cigarette, a new sin closet is built in their spiritual house. Every time they do it again, that closet becomes bigger, and it takes up more space in their spiritual house. This sin closet is named “ADDICTION.” Before long, they find themselves adding to this closet with other mind-altering drugs and other addictive substances. The dark sin closet grows and grows, taking up valuable, healthy living area in their spiritual house. Before long, this sin closet of ADDICTION is HUGE.
At the same time, other sin closets begin to form. Because drugs cost money, the person begins to steal to support their habit. Another sin closet is now built. Its name is “THEFT.” It grows every time the person steals to get money to buy drugs. In addition, the person lies to cover up their sin. Another sin closet is now built, named “DECEPTION.” With every lie, this sin closet gets bigger and bigger.
I hope you can see how the sin closets in our lives rapidly grow and take up more of the bright, open concept spiritual space. The enemy wants your spiritual house to be nothing but dark closets that store up sin. The more closets, the less open concept space.
Tomorrow, we will discuss how the Holy Spirit can clean out these closets and remove them. Hold on! There is hope!
Only God can……..turn the tide
In the Light, Doreen
