Cleaning the Blinds

There is still a crispness in the air, but the sun is out and we’re sneaking closer and closer to spring. I decided the other day, quite randomly, to clean the blinds in the bedrooms. Now to be honest, this is not something I do regularly, so clearly, they needed to be done. Ugg.

As I was perched on my bed going blind by blind with the rag, it dawned on me that nobody would notice or care what I was doing. Such a sad reality. I feel like when we do tasks like that, we should get a gold star or something; cheers or an applause, anything to acknowledge our choice to actually do what “needs” to be done. Things like putting laundry away the same day we wash it, eating vegetables with dinner, choosing to not eat high-carb treats, or balancing our checkbook (I just dated myself).

There should be someone whose entire job is to applaud us when we are disciplined enough to do what needs to be done despite the fact that we don’t want to.

Though it would appear there are no rewards or gold stars for doing the basic tasks of life, the result of doing them actually becomes the reward:

• I get to live in a clean house.
• My body functions better.
• I am less aware of myself.
• I don’t have to be stressed.

When things are done the way they “should“ be, it brings peace and order.

I was thinking about that in terms of our relationship with God. We all have the choice to live righteously (to be right with God) or not.

When we live with integrity and choose God’s best, instead of following a culture that so easily justifies fulfilling our own desires…

• Our souls are clean.
• We function as we are supposed to.
• We are less self aware and more aware of others.
• Our hearts are at peace.

When we live by the standard God establishes, as opposed to measuring our lives by everybody else’s standard, we experience the depth of life God originally intended for us to live.

In the Old Testament, God told Abraham, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” Gen 15:5

When we make the choice, the sacrifice, to follow God’s standard, we experience Him from the inside out. He becomes our gold star.

The fruit (result) of God’s spirit in us is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5). Oh, how I crave those things. They are what we experience when we do things God’s way. God himself becomes our reward.

Just like cleaning the blinds has a natural reward built into it…even if no one notices, so does choosing to do what is right by God’s standard…even if no one sees.

I say it all the time, but I truly believe it to be true, “we ARE God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph. 2:10) That means for us to do the right thing is simply for us to press into Jesus and be so close to Him that we move in the “good” choices He’s already created for us to move in.  That’s “cleaning the blinds” spiritually.

In the Meanwhile…

As we go about our day to day living, doing the tasks that are necessary to be healthy, to have clean homes and to be productive, let’s be reminded that God has also set a standard for us so we can be healthy, have clean souls and experience our purposes in His Kingdom. When we live choosing to follow his standard, we will in return experience the peace and joy of His presence.

So let’s keep “cleaning our blinds” knowing the reward will always make it worth it.