Toilets (yes, again!)

John 14:23
“Jesus answered, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”
 
Still staying home?  Yup.  My daughter is even excited about planning her “Zoom” birthday party.  “Normal” is just so far from normal.
 
These are troubling times, not just because of Covid, but also riots, complete standstill of government, and the obvious disregard for lives of people with a deeper skin tone.  We either rise together or we fall together.  There should not be an America in tiers.  The God of all creation is …. God. Of. All. Creation. 
 
But of course, with no prompting from visits of friends, my toilets are dirty.  Again.  Not that I don’t clean them regularly, but still.  I have so many other priorities that sometimes my cleaning and structure of my week slips. 
 
So, as I launch into contemplation about when I will get around to cleaning my bathroom, I was reminded of an old memory of one of my first retail management jobs.  I was a new assistant manager of a store in Concord, NC, and I was green.  So, with the visit of the company CEO quickly approaching, the store manager had a sit-down with me.  I was prepared with all the company lines, standards of operational procedures, and a bit of flare of what I saw as ways I could contribute to our individual store’s bottom line.  But instead of those items, she wanted to discuss just one.  The bathroom.  Seriously!
Turns out, in her many, many years with the company, she learned something invaluable.  Mr. Cato’s first stop when making store visits was to the bathroom.  And not always because he had to use it.  You see, it was explained to me that, if, the bathroom was clean and in order (which the customer doesn’t see), then he could rest assured that the front of the house was in order (which is what should contribute to a great shopping experience).  I took this single experience with me to ALL the stores which I was responsible for thereafter, and it served me well.
 
Well, there it is.  How have I been taking care of my spiritual “back of house”?  My heart, head, and speech.  Because God isn’t interested in the “customer experience”.  He doesn’t get impressed with all the awesome things we think we do in His name. His concern is for true relationship, and complete faithfulness to Him.  That is not the type of “cleaning” we can do on our own.  But, He in all his Mercy has given us a Helper (John 14:16-17), One that will reside in us as we walk in the love that God commanded (John 14:15).
 
Luke 11:24- 26
“When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it roams through waterless places looking for rest, and not finding rest, it then says, 'I'll go back to my house where I came from.' And returning, it finds [the house] swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and settle down there. As a result, that man's last condition is worse than the first."
 
The point isn’t to get the “house” clean before you invite the Spirit in, but it is to invite the Spirit to come into every inch and reside.  And as junk gets cleared out, continue to allow the Spirit to move in those areas too.  So how do we do that?  Prayer, seeking God, following His Word (which means you have to know what it says…), and of course, INVITE the Spirit of God to dwell in you!
 
John 14:23.  It is a PROMISE!