I’ll Put it Away Later

Listen… I’m not the best at putting things away. I’ll tell myself, “I’ll handle it later.” Next thing you know, my jacket’s still on the chair, dishes are staring at me from the counter, and my desk looks like a mini tornado stopped by for coffee.

Actually… I’ve come to believe I have a guardian angel following me around the house. I will leave my socks on the floor and they end up in the laundry. I leave my coat hanging on the back of the chair and when I go to get it, it’s in the closet.  When I am done with my dishes I’ll leave them on the counter. The next thing I know they’re in the dishwasher. My shoes that I leave in the living room? They find their way to the back porch. I keep my eyes wide open, hoping to catch a glimpse of my guardian angel, but the only one I see is this cute little 5’ 1 3/4” blonde picking up after me and putting things away.

Today, I was thinking about how I am not good putting things away and God hit me with Joshua 24:14:

“ So fear the LORD and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD alone.

That part — “put away” — stuck with me.

Joshua wasn’t just talking about little statues or idols. He was saying, get rid of the stuff that’s taking up space in your heart. The old habits. The distractions. The things we keep saying we’ll “deal with later.”

Because just like my messy pile of paper on my desk (which my blonde guardian angel doesn’t know what to do with them), when we don’t put things away spiritually, the clutter builds up. And before you know it, your peace, your focus, your connection with God — all of it feels buried under the mess.

Then the next verse of this portion of scripture is key to the rest of this lesson…

Joshua 24:15. “But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.”

Who ya gonna serve?  We all serve somebody. The choice is not between if I am  going to serve or not serve. It’s about who I am going to serve! I can always tell if I’m serving the “gods of my ancestors”, because fear guilt and shame are always present. “God of my ancestors“ can also be translated into “it is what it is“, “that’s the way I’ve always done it”, “that’s just the way things have always been”. Self promotion and self protection also seemed to tagalong when I am not in my right identity… when I am serving myself and my own self interests. When I am serving the Lord with my whole heart, my true identity becomes my focus and the voice of the Lord becomes clear in my daily walk.

Like I read in Isaiah 40:31, “My own ears will hear him. Right behind me a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.”

So yeah… I’m learning to choose each day to put away the things that are causing clutter in my life both physically and spiritually and choosing  to serve the Lord by walking in my true identity.

Putting things back where they belong — and letting God take the stuff that doesn’t.

(If you are interested in more information on how to know what your true identity is check out https://www.wildmenlife.com/trueidentity)