House Keeper Prep

Do you ever hire a cleaning person to help around the house?  Some people do.  They come in now and then to help with things like dusting and vacuuming, that sort of thing.  I can't say that I have a lot of experience in this area, but I have heard it said that it is common for people to want to clean up their houses before the cleaning person arrives.  On the surface this seems pretty ridiculous, after all cleaning is what you are hiring the person to do.  To a certain extent it makes sense.  You don't want to pay the person to straighten things up or for putting away clutter.  And you certainly don't want the cleaning person thinking that you are a slob.  But still, it seems like you could be creating more work and stress by hiring the cleaner.

Well, maybe not....

There are many situations in which it seems there is a lot of prep work just to get going.  As a teacher, a day off starts with writing lesson plans for a substitute teacher.  And we teachers aren't alone.  Many people say that on a day off, the work piles up until their return.  Or business owners talk about all of the preparations needed so that the business can function for a day without them.  

Maybe the king of "work just to get started" is a construction project.  Long before the first nail is put into a board, the plans begin.  There are schematics to draw, materials to buy and deliver, helpers to organize.  Then and only then are you ready to begin.  If you have ever worked on a project that has been poorly planned, you see immediately how important prior preparation is.

There is one area in which making preparations is not only unnecessary, but it can actually be a hindrance.  That area is our relationship with God.  There are many people who long for a deeper relationship with God, but want to get their life together first.  It is as if we feel that we are unacceptable in our current form.  We don't want God to see what a mess we've made of our life.  

But the thing is, God knows and He's accepts us anyway.  We can never make our lives "good enough" to impress God, but it is not necessary.  Allowing ourselves to think that we can only come to God once our life is in order is like thinking that we can only go to a doctor once we stop being sick, or that we can only go to a mechanic after we fix our car.  

Through the redemption offered by the Grace of God through Jesus Christ, we can transform our mess of a life from the worst house on Hoarders to a mansion from Life Styles of the Rich and Famous.

Watch this video from Pastor Chris.

Our relationship with God restores us, and we are ready to begin or expand that relationship right now.  No prep is needed.  Let's go.