Broom Bloggin #1

Lately I have been obsessed with cleaning things out and up. I just moved into my new house and dust seems to haunt me. It's cool though, I am really excited about my new place. The house really isn't new, but it is new to me. To tell the truth it's really old, but it is my house and I love it. I am sure that a lot of stuff has happened to this house and in this house. I'm sure at some point windows have been broken. I'm sure that the power has gone out multiple times. I am also sure that there are bugs, spiders, roaches, and many other things that I don't want with this house. It might seem kind of frustrating at first but I'm willing to make it work I think. My first night in my house, I didn't want to make it work. All my stuff was laying everywhere and I had lots of sweeping to do. But I decided that it was time to prepare my broom. So I got to work. I'm still working. It will take a long long time, but when it's done, I know that this house is going to be worth it. What is it about working for something, that makes us want to run away? I am so guilty of being apathetic or just getting plain frustrated and quiting. This really takes place in life. I have so many friends that are broken, bitter, frustrated, hurt, scared, and any other kind of pain. I've been told by many this: "RUN!!!!!" Don't have anything to do with these people. They are trouble.

I beg to differ.

Why run? We are all placed in situations with people around us for such a time as this. I heard my pastor say one time, "In all of the armor that God gave us, Breast Plate of Righteousness, Helmet of Salvation, sword of the word of God, so on and so forth, God never gave us a back plate." There is no need to run. Running is not unconditional. So what do I propose?

Prepare Your Broom.

It's time to clean. What if I never cleaned my house? What if I said, "This house is dirty, I can't live here, time to leave." I would be an idiot. What if we packed our stuff up every time our place got dirty? We would be seen as people of apathy and weakness. But how often do we do the very same thing with our friends, family, and just with society in general. When we find out our friends' struggles, we just leave them to fight for survival by themselves.

Commitment is a word that my generation has skewed. It is not a virtue it is a decision. It is not something that is guaranteed. What happened to being unconditional? What do I mean by all of this? Christ calls us to love humanity the way he loved us. How did and does Christ love us? He loves us with an unconditional, unwavering, unceasing pursuit. He never gives up. Is this what he calls us to do? Look to the book of Hosea...God used Hosea to show that his love for us is that of a man who has an unconditional love for a woman who is completely screwed up. This woman was a prostitute, she loved the world and everything in it. But Hosea saw good in her and continually pursued her. He did not give up. Now what if I told you that this is what God calls us to do with the people of this world. NEVER GIVE UP ON THEM!!!! They will make mistakes but continual love, mercy, and yes GRACE is what we should offer them. Now do not confuse that with being of the world.

It easy to get sucked into what many of my friends from school and other places have done, and say this means we are to place ourselves in areas of temptation to reach the lost. I believe this is up to the discretion of the holy spirit in the individual lives of the people who are in these situations. As postmodern as that sounds, I believe the holy spirit works on a individual basis, but has standards that we to use to help determine what the holy spirit wants.

So this is what I offer... an unconditional, unwavering, passionate, dedication to all of humanity .

How do grudges, bitterness, pain, and want all play into being what is described above? Meet me back here tomorrow night and Ill tell you.