Go clean your room

Probably one of the most common parental admonishments of all time is the dreaded "go clean your room."  This one is passed on from generation to generation and it usually becomes at least a weekly "order" to kids even of an early age.

The rationale behind "go clean your room" varies from family to family:

• there are the neat freak parents who just can't stand kids having messy bedrooms
• there are the control freak parents who can use this command to lord over their kids
• there are actually parents who use this admonishment to try to instill responsibility in their kids
• and, there are parents who know that throughout life one is always responsible for his own stuff and self, and they know the importance of raising their children with that knowledge.

As we get older, folks normally automatically take care of not only their rooms, but their whole houses.  Keeping one's house neat and clean is something most folks strive for.  Admittedly, one mans neat and clean may not necessarily jive with another mans neat and clean, which explains the interest in one of those reality shows "Hoarders".

Aside from our houses, it is far more important to do a bit of housecleaning in the room that really matters the most....our hearts.  In that context, if I have a messy room, I have a messy life.  And if I have a messy life, then chances are those I come in contact with as a man, a husband and as a father, are not seeing or knowing what God fully intended me to be.  They are seeing dirt and clutter.  It can only be masked so much.  Dust bunnies of the heart are way more visible than the dust bunnies in my kids room.

As a grown up, I need to be reminded once in a while to "go clean my room."  Those reminders usually come through some verse from the bible, something said by my pastor during his message,  or perhaps from a friend who takes the time and the risk to tell me he is seeing something that is just a bit off base in me 

How is your room?  Do you need to go clean your room?