Cleaning up my desk and my life for God

We recently began a renovation project recently at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. We started with the church offices. One Sunday volunteers moved everything out of the offices and into the back classrooms. The volunteers stripped everything from my desktop before moving it. Consequently, when I located my desk the top was clean. I even had the opportunity to remove the glass insert and

This is the first time in three and a half years that I have seen the top of my desk. I do not have a filing system; I just have stacks of paper, envelopes, and post-its all over my desk. I also place my laptop and a printer on my desk. Sometimes when I need to hand write something or spread out my books for research have to move to another desk. So, it is certainly wonderful to work with a clean desk for awhile.

It didn't take me long to clutter my desk, and it won't take me long again. It doesn't take long to clutter our lives either. We accumulate trash (sins) - harsh words, selfish thoughts, less-than-perfect actions daily, around the clock. It takes no time at all to obscure the fact that we were created in the image of God. Fortunately, it does not take a moving crew to clean out our lives of accumulated junk. The Lord forgives us daily through repentance and absolution. He also forgives us in Baptism and the Lord's Table. We can receive a cleansing in the blood of Christ; he takes our sins and gives us his righteousness in their place. I wish I could clean my desk as efficiently and effectively.

Rev. Rory M. Hermann Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." (Isaiah 1:18)