It starts innocently enough. We get stuff as presents. We buy stuff. We trade for stuff. We make stuff. We accumulate stuff. We spend time on hobbies. We spend time on work. We spend time on family and friends. We spend time on TV and social media. We spend time on recreation. We take on responsibilities, sometimes without a sober evaluation of if we can fulfill them. We add more social media accounts. We get subscriptions to entertainment and news services. After a while all of this stuff seems to take on a life of its own, all demanding our attention. Like thorny weeds in the garden of our life, it can choke the life out of the plants that are supposed to be there and growing fruit.
There has got to be a better way to live. I don’t want to be like the thorny soil Jesus spoke about in the parable of the sower and the seeds. It is time to pull the weeds and declutter my life.
Clutter in my life is something I have to fight actively. I have a natural inclination towards clutter that I must defeat. Physical clutter, emotional baggage, mental clutter, time clutter… it is all thorny weeds to my spiritual health. It has to go. It will go. I choose to focus on the Lord’s leading in my life. I will declutter my life, physically, mentally, and spiritually. I will avoid taking on things, activities, and obligations that are outside of the scope of what God has planned for me. I will not let worldly stuff choke out my spiritual life. Even if it means clearing out a storage shed or reorganizing a junk drawer. The peace of being able to clearly focus on what God is pleased most with is well worth it!