A Clean House

Matthew 11:20ff, Jesus was rebuking the people for rejecting Him. "What horrors await you...For if the miracles I did in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, their people would have sat in deep repentance long ago...And you...For if the miracles I did for you had been done in Sodom, it would still be here today. I assure you, Sodom will be better off on the judgment day than you...Oh Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise and clever, and for revealing it to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased You to do it this way!...Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light."

Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees the people of Capernaum. He was talking to the people of Harvard and Yale of His day. They were very proud because of what they knew. They would not listen to His teaching and accept Him, so in return He turned them over to their fate. Because these people did see Him; because they did know Him, they would suffer even greater punishment for rejecting Him, than those who had never known Him. How many times do people see Jesus working in their lives; How many times do we know Him and in return we reject Him?

Jesus speaks to everyone, but many times in their own arrogance, people still reject Him. We have a tendency to think that we have it all figured out and that our way is the right way. He says he will humble the proud, "what horrors await you." But if you come to Him as a child, knowing nothing and trusting in Him, you will be saved. His yoke is His teaching. In the Jewish tradition the Rabbi had teachings. Some Rabbi had very hard teaching and the work was great. But Jesus the true Rabbi had a very easy teaching and He would help to make the burden light. In Him, through His teachings we can find rest for our souls, because his teaching fits us perfectly.

Matthew 12:43-45, "When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, 'I will return to the person I came from.' So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and clean. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before." How many times I tried to turn my life around. I would try and do right for a while, but I never replaced the bad that I was doing with good. I would just be empty. Every time I turned my life around, I would get worse. I ended up being at a place in my life that I could have never dreamed. My sin would be brought to my attention; I would confess my sin and ask for forgiveness; He would clean my soul, my house was clean, but I would not replace that sin with Him. Finally I had to seek Him; I had to replace that empty clean house with His yoke, with His teachings. Every time that we confess our sins; He washes our house clean, we are no longer full of sin. If we do not diligently seek Him; if we do not make the effort to replace that sin with Him, then we will be visited by more evil than was there to begin with.

I come to God every day knowing that I will fail if He does not help me. I go to His word, seeking wisdom, because I know how foolish I am with out Him. I have to. I have emptied my house so many times, but never filled it with Him. Because of this, I was visited by evil much worse than what I had to deal with before. I do not ever want to be fooled again into thinking that I am fine on my own. I have to come to Him like a child, seeking His wisdom and His strength, because I never want to be trapped again. I know my Lord, I have a deep intimate relationship with Him. I have to do my part. "The rest that Jesus promises is love, healing, and peace with God, not the end of all labor." A relationship with Him, fills my house. I do not have to fear being visited any longer by those evil spirits, but I have to do my part in this relationship. I have to come to Him as a child, who knows that I am helpless without Him. I no longer have a meaningless, wearisome life, but I have a relationship with my Lord that I cherish more than anything else this world can offer. My burnden is now light, becaue He carries it for me.