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I love Spring!
The warmer temperatures get me all excited about what I’ll plant that year.
I’ve got these two huge pots that I like to set on my back porch. They take a lot of dirt and some creativity to get them to drain right, but I love how the flowers and plants look in them as they spill over the edge of the container. As I’m dreaming about how I’ll dress up my back porch, I know I’ve got to get those pots cleaned out.
But what if I just stopped there? What if all I did was clean out the pot – all the old foliage, the dirt, make it sparkling clean. What would happen? Would anything grow?
That pot would only fill up with bugs, water, maybe a few leaves the wind blows in, and maybe a snake or two.
But no pretty flowers. No beautiful, green plants. That would need good soil, seeds planted, watering the soil, and of course the warm rays of sun. Only then will there be something beautiful bloom.
Luke 11:24-26
“When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”
Our attempts to clean ourselves up fall short. All we get is an empty vessel. It may last for a small season, but it’s only temporary. In fact, we begin to look at our lives and think, how did it get this bad? I was trying so hard!
When we clean out our pot, or clean up ourselves, it’s clean for a time. But it’s not enough just to be emptied of what’s bad. Unless we are filled with something meaningful and lasting, we will never see true growth or fruit. We must be filled with the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, we could be filled with all manner of unwanted things.
Have been trying to clean yourself up? I commend you for having that desire. But when has it lasted? This time, instead of relying on our own strength and knowledge, let’s ask the Lord to change us – our focus, our attention, our desires – to be more like Him. Let the Holy Spirit do the work and choose to follow Him every day.
Lean not on our own understanding.
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