Keys to the Kingdom

In my later teen years at home, my parents would usually “call it a night” before I did. Like clockwork, they would straighten up the living room before heading off to bed. It was their nightly routine to put everything in its place. One time Mom explained their tradition: “Back in the day, we always cleaned the living room before going to bed in case the doctor had to come in the night.” That made good sense to me because it was a good habit and good habits should continue even if the reason for them is out of style. That’s why I can join a few others in saying, “I’m from the old school.“ Another rule I learned was to always wear clean underwear in case you’re in a car wreck.

Generally speaking, nobody sees your underwear because it’s hiding beneath your outer clothing. You’re the only person who knows whether your undies are clean, worn-out, uncomfortable, or stink. Spiritually speaking, what’s on the outside is just a façade, but what’s on the inside (hiding) is the real thing. “As I think in my heart [which is underneath and hidden] so am I“ (Proverbs 23:7). Believers need to be careful of the temptation to harbor negative undercurrents in their mind and heart. Bad attitudes are sure to show up in your conversations, facial expressions, and actions. Although you try, you can’t hide what’s on the inside because it comes out involuntarily. King David wrote: “He [God] knows the secrets of every heart” (Psalm 44:21 NLT).

Everyday we have the choice to wear dirty or clean underwear. The Apostle Paul tells us that believers have the choice to put on Jesus or leave Him in the closet. “Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don‘t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires“ (Romans 13:14 NLT). If you’re so busy with going here and there, and doing this and that, you may not even be able to find Jesus to put Him on. If your closet of life is cluttered with stuff, Jesus will just continue to hang around waiting to be worn.

I enjoy going through drawers, cabinets, and closets to throw out stuff that serves no purpose. Christians have to do the same thing spiritually. “Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from Him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God — truly righteous and holy” (Ephesians 4:21-24 NLT). You have to take off something old in order to put on something new. It would be dumb for someone to put clean underwear on over the top of dirty ones. (If brains were gasoline, she couldn’t ride a moped around a fruit loop!)

A baby is coddled and bottled and that’s sweet. But if a Christian is expecting God to do everything for him/her, that stinks. God has His part and we have our part. Paul says believers are to “put on our new nature.” By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are to dress ourselves with the presence of Jesus every day — one size fits all.

The Key: Beware! If your underwear stinks, then you’re the one to change it.

Americans and Canadians are now leaving Mexico and heading home for the summer, and with a goal of ending up with no food in our condos, “Refrigerator Clean-Out” parties abound. So, we all congregate in the condominium of the ones leaving, pick what kinds of cheese or meats or canned goods we might use, thank our generous friends, and then, a few days later, have our own departing exodus get-together, many times giving away what we took from those who left before us.

We prepare our condominiums until we return (hopefully) in the fall. Darkened shades protect the furniture from the sun’s damage, fans help with air circulation, underwear is placed in the refrigerator (Not kidding; it saves the elastic), cars are garaged with trickle-charge batteries attached, and we pray for the best. “Best” meaning no hurricane or tsunami or earthquake or saltwater damage.

Yesterday, making up for lost time, I had a massage.

For years I have heard raves about Corina, the gal who comes to our complex and is a master at relieving tension. She is not for wimps. Corina started off gently, rubbing my shoulder blades before pressing some area above my hip that shot me into orbit. Hers was a two-hand approach, one kneading my left shoulder area near my spine and the other on that hip spot. Mine was a “try not to whimper” approach. Occasionally Corina would find some body part not filled with marbles, but that was rare, and trust me, holding my breath instead of squeezing her tonsils as a reflexive response was exhausting. Following our time together, I spent an hour trying to figure out how my kidneys ended up above my lungs.

Corina’s hands were weapons, a gift from God to torture those of us willing to hand over 500 pesos ($25.00) to be woman-handled.

Yesterday, the day before Dave and I left Mazatlán, I took my friend Saundra’s advice and made an appointment with Diana, the lady across the street who gives facials. My face, it seems, required about 16 steps to repair its damage, the fifth of which was preempted with these words. “This might make you feel like your face is on fire, but it’s necessary because of the sun’s harm to your skin.” At that point, Diana threw kerosene on my face and lit it with a blow torch. By the 10^th step when she “exfoliated” the dirt lurking in the skin of my nose, I was sure I would be faceless for the rest of my life.

Driving across the mountains of Mexico today was a piece of tres-leches cake compared to the pain endured on body parts I had ignored for far too long but had spent hours of the two previous days repairing. Experts were able to see problems under the surface of my skin that I had no idea were there. Instead of a maintenance program, I had allowed things to get out of hand…or back…or face…or wherever. And I paid a price for ignoring what I needed to do.

Don’t we all do that with our spiritual lives? We go through the motions of daily happenings and ignore the warning signs of what our faith requires until jolted awake by our expert Creator, the One who sees danger below the surface. We are shocked by the damage done when our sins get out of control and question why we did not do a maintenance check on our spiritual life.

When did I stop talking to Jesus throughout the day? How did it become so easy not to attend church? What happened to my New Years’ oath that I would study my Bible on a regular basis? If those questions represent you, perhaps it is time for some spiritual kneading or burning or exfoliating…you know, a maintenance program none of us can fail to ignore.