Living with our mess

One thing that's always amazed me is how effortless some of my favorite pastors (Perry Noble, Brian Houston, Ed Young, Steve Furtick, to name a few) are able to relate everyday events in their life to the spiritual realm. And I had a thought that struck me the other day that kind of resonated: "Are we living with our mess?" I must admit Sara and I don't keep the ideal house. As much as we would like to always have the clean home, we just can't seem to stich more than a few days together at best. I don't mind admitting this because I truely believe that the majority of people out there leave dishes in the sink, clothes on the floor, shoes by the couch, etc.. We go through the week and simply ignore a mess is there because we've seen it for a while. We're used to the mess and become somewhat numb to the mess. When we are expecting company or have an advanced notice, we can usually do the "flight of the bumblebee" cleaning and everything looks tidy (who doesn't?). This is a lot like how I lived my life for such a long time. I went through life doing things that I knew I shouldn't' be doing, saying things I shouldn't be saying, and even thinking things I shouldn't be thinking. Basically, just doing everything wrong. Let me change gears real quick. I had lunch with my brother today and I told him that I totally believe that no matter who you are, when you do some sort of wrong doing, you can tell everyone that it doesn't bother you or put on a front, but in your mind, you know what you are doing (or did) was wrong. Bottom line, you know it was wrong! You tell yourself it didn't matter, or that it wasn't that bad. Or better yet, you'll lie to yourself and say you'll never do it again, but all you're really doing is spring cleaning and living with your mess. The interesting thing is, we all have a mess that we are living with. Let me repeat, we all have a mess that we are living with. This is a major lesson that I've recently learned through Christ. We all have a mess that we live with but know it's wrong. We keep living our lives and changing nothing, all the while we still know we need to change. I used to think that I might get involved with a Church when I got my life together. Newsflash to anyone thinking that same thought at the moment, that day will never happen. I thank God every day that he was patient with me, and through a series of events, led me to Newspring where I finally learned how to take care of my mess. I can't say it's been an easy change, but I will say that I can never go back down the road I used to wear out. My life has become extremely transparent since becoming a true follower of Christ because I've learned that we are all truely the same. We all have the same issues, concerns, addictions, thoughts....every thing, and every day! This is the simplistic beauty of Christ. He wants your mess so that he can clean it up for you. So let me ask you, are you still living with your mess?