For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21 (ESV)
What is your heart?
Wellspring of life. The center of your emotions. A moral compass.
The bible talks often of the heart. It mentions guarding your heart, keeping it. How the heart can be glad or full of sorrow.
It would seem that this figurative heart is the seat of all emotions and intellect.
The Secret Place
When I read Matthew 6, I was reminded of a sermon series that my pastor did at church called “The Secret Place”. He spoke of how the Secret Place is where we give, pray, and fast; not boasting or showing off but doing those things secretly.
At verse 21, it dawned on me that this is what “The Secret Place” truly is – my heart.
If my giving, praying, and fasting does not emanate from this secret place of my heart, it is worthless.
My heart is the place where I keep my secrets. It is the place where I ponder and treasure.
What do you treasure in your heart?
Here is the interesting thing: I can choose what types of secrets I treasure in my heart.
I can choose to secret away resentment, bitterness, envy, and anger – poisonous thoughts and emotions that will eat away at me from the inside out.
“A glad heart makes a cheerful face,
but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed.” Proverbs 15:13 (ESV)
These sorrows building up in my heart crush my spirit.
Choose Joy
However, I also have the choice to place thoughts of God, joy in times of trouble, believing the best of others, and hope-filled treasures in my heart. These things make my heart glad, and then my face cheerful.
Recently, a book and television show featuring Marie Kondo have risen in popularity. It is all about getting and keeping a tidy home. Her central tenet is to keep only the things in your home which truly bring you joy.
Whether or not you subscribe to this type of home decluttering, it is a good practice to get into when keeping the secret place of your heart tidy.
Holy thoughts. Christ-centered beliefs. The fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are items to keep in your secret place – these are the ones that will bring true joy to your heart.
Get rid of the things that don’t bring true and lasting joy. Kick them out the door of your mind and emotions, and replace them with the good stuff.
Action Step:
In the physical, we strip down to our most vulnerable and get rid of the waste in our bodies in the bathroom. Secret things happen in the bathroom. I mean, can you imagine a bathroom without a door? No way! We all want privacy in this room. This week it is time to tackle decluttering the bathroom so it is easier to keep clean, bringing you peace and joy.
As you go through the drawers and cabinets in your bathroom to toss out things you don’t use anymore, think about what nasty, gunky thoughts are hanging out in your heart that you need to toss as well.
Out-dated makeup. Gotta go! Practically empty lotion bottles. Out! Trial sizes. Old hair products. Raggedy towels that no one likes to use. Bubble bath when you only take showers. Bits and pieces that get tucked away or tossed in drawers. Goodbye!
Frustration. Bitterness. Resentful thoughts. Keeping score. Longing for what someone else has. Toss them out!
Empty out the drawer or cabinet and wipe it down before putting back the items you really use and want to keep. As you put the items in their places, think about the thoughts you want to keep in your heart…
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV)
“I can do all things through him (Christ) who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 (ESV)
“In whom (Jesus) we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.” Ephesians 3:12 (ESV)
Once the bathroom has a place for everything and everything in its place (as my mother used to preach to me), it is much easier to keep it clean.
The ticket is to clean up often.
Here are some tips for keeping an tidy and clean bathroom:
While in the shower, after soaping down your body, take your pouf or washcloth and wipe down the walls of the shower and tub. It takes less than a minute.
After brushing your teeth, take 30 seconds to wipe off the countertops, including the faucet and handles. Disinfectant wipes are handy for this! (They are also great for doorknobs and handles!)
After drying off from a shower, the damp towel can be used to quickly wipe off ledges or the spots off mirrors or even the corners of the floor where dust builds up.
I keep a cleaning tablet in the tank of the toilet to keep it clean between deep cleaning days.
Doing these 30 second tasks will create an almost perpetually clean bathroom. Taking stock of the secret place of your heart while you do these tasks will keep your heart in good shape too!
Prayer:
Dear God, we want clean hearts and homes – to be ourselves a house for Your presence and our homes to be welcoming, leading people to You. Help us remember to guard what we allow in our hearts. Enable us to toss the bad and keep the good. Bring joy into our lives as we declutter our hearts and homes. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Comment below your thoughts or requests about keeping house and keeping heart! Thanks!
If you missed the first post in this series, click here!
Also, I have free printables in the Devotion in Action Resource Library for this series if you would like to Bible art journal along with me!
If you don’t have the password to the Resource Library, click here!