Decorating

Back into the archives again this week.  I wrote an article entitled "Decorating" for our church newsletter some years ago.  As I reread it recently (I've been cleaning out my paperwork 😊), I realized it just a pertinent to my life today as it was when I originally wrote it.  I'm sharing it here with you all because I think we can all use the reminder to check out what's going on inside our hearts and minds. 

For years now the Lord has been impressing on me that our lives, our hearts are like houses with rooms.  I hear questions in my head like, "Whose house are you building?" and "What are you decorating it with?"  As I was reading through Proverbs recently, chapter 24:3-4 brought these questions to mind.  It says:  A house is build by wisdom and becomes strong through good sense.  Through knowledge its rooms are filled with all sorts of riches and valuables.  So I have to ask, What are we decorating our rooms with?  What does this house whose foundations are the apostles and the prophets, Jesus being the cornerstone, look like in you and in me?

God's Word is filled with instruction on what should and should not be in our hearts.  Now remember what is going on in our heart will determine what is lived out in our lives.  Matthew 12:25   Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.  Mark 7:20-23  He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”  If your life is consistently exhibiting the kind of thinking and behavior mentioned in these verses, it's time to examine your heart. 

Thinking of our hearts as a house, what are the rooms we have in it.  Maybe there is a room for family, a room for church, for work, etcetera.  What are you putting up as decor in these rooms?  Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to be your designer or are you trying to do it yourself?  Are you getting your decorating ideas from the Bible or from the world?

What are some of the worldly ways of decorating?  Galatians 5:19-21 (The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.)  and Colossians 3:5  (Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.) give us a pretty comprehensive list of worldly decorating.  What behaviors can be traced to this kind of paint on your walls?  Do you always need to be right?  Do you spend more time in front of the TV than with God and family?  Is greed for the good things of this life your flooring?  You're standing on idolatry!  How about the knickknacks sitting on your coffee table?  Are they vases of decayed flowers, "anger, rage and malicious behavior?"  Some other Scriptures that give us the world's idea of decorating:

Philippians 2:3a   Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
Psalm 10:2-3,7  In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises.  He boasts about the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord....   His mouth is full of lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue.
Acts 7:51  “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!
Jeremiah 3:23a  Our worship of idols on the hills and our religious orgies on the mountains are a delusion.

That is our heart before Christ.  After we put the blood of Christ on the door frame of our heart, things start to change.  When we invite Him into our lives, it's like we are no on one of those make-over shows.  In Ezekiel 36:26 the Lord tells us He is going to give us a new heart.  "And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart."  Our houses are getting a make-over!  I can just see the big dumpster being parked out in the driveway!!  Out goes all the junk! (Ow!  Getting rid of the old stuff hurts.)  Please refrain from picking through the garbage once it has been thrown out.  Sometimes a bad habit that has become our comfortable comfort needs to go.  We need to let go of the old furniture.  That old chair may be comfortable, but it has holes and springs popping out and it smells bad.  It won't fit in with the new creation God is making in our house. 

So, starting with faith as our flooring, it's time to exchange the old for the new.  God has created in us a clean heart and is ready to start renewing a right spirit with us (Psalm 51:10, author paraphrase).  On the walls is new artwork.  Pictures of the fruit of the Spirit that is.  Galatians 5:22-23  But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!   Yes, it takes time to do this make-over. 

Just like you would spend time pouring over magazines and shopping to redecorate your house, you must spend time with Jesus, pouring over Scriptures, in prayer, learning what stays and what goes in order to fix up your spiritual house.  We didn't get all the filth and grime and old broken-down pieces of furniture in our houses overnight.  They were built up over a lifetime.  So too, it will take time and hard work (get ready for some heavy lifting!) to renew this old house.  Soon instead of seeing vases of anger, rage and malicious behavior on the coffee table, we will see beautiful blooms of  mercy, kindness, generosity and compassion.  Our new paint color will be called Love.  Want some more decorating ideas?  Try using praise for your roof (our praise goes up to heaven), and thanksgiving as area rugs (remembering to be thankful in every area of our lives).

It's our job to keep our houses (aka hearts) clean.  Our Father tells us in 1 Peter 1:16  "You must be holy because I am holy."  How do we keep our houses clean?  By obedience .  Psalm 119:9  How can a young person stay pure?  By obeying your word.  By confession and repentance.  Psalm 66:18  If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.   1 John 1:9  But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.  Psalm 51:17  The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

And let's go to one more area of our house.  The safe.  The place we keep our treasures.  Hidden within our hearts should be the Word .  Psalm 119:11  I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.  This is what we look at to see if we are getting the decor right.  It is there to direct us, to warn us, correct us, and encourage us. 

Are you ready for some redecorating?