Setting your house in order – Part 1

Josh. 24:15 says, “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

BRETHREN, it is very important that we should have concern of what becomes of our souls in relation to how we are living our lives in this world. This is because many have gone astray and deviated from their professed faith, as a result of the things of this world. As we know, godliness is a matter of choice with all who heartily embrace it, and no man ever does or can live godly, in spirit and in truth, without choosing to do so. The carnal mind of man is enmity against God, because it loves the things of this world and for that reason, is not prepared for godliness, hence the necessity of one setting his house aright in order to overcome the influence of the world. If you want God’s presence continuously in your life, you must ensure holiness and righteousness in all manner of your conversation and also make all you have dealings with to conform to it. That is why you should be disturbed by the situation of your friends, who have given themselves over to money and the things of the world. Paul the Apostle showed concern, when Demas a fellow disciple in the workforce, deserted him because of the love of this world.

2Tim 4:10 “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica.” Paul had the concern that Demas has forsaken him because of the love of the things of the world. If we refuse to put our house in order, devil and his agents will see reasons to lure us out of faith. If we don’t protect what we have, the enemy will keep it for us. We should be concerned about the behaviour of our local church members, friends, relations and people around us. We should be bothered for the misuse of the temple of God, as our Master Jesus Christ, Who is trying to correct the negative behavioural activities of those in the temple, decided to drive them out of the church.

John 2:13-16, “And the Jews’ Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; 16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.”

Many have given themselves to things that do not profit their souls, thereby endangering their souls. The Almighty God entrusted every one of us with a soul of inestimable worth and preciousness, capable of being eternally saved or lost. And the gain of the whole world cannot be comparable with the loss of one the precious souls.

Mark 8:36-37 says: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”

If you are in the church and have lost focus of heaven, which is the primary purpose of being in the church, but now focuses your energy on what to eat, wear, and how to get the world, then you have missed the point. The souls of those around you (wife, husband, relations) and church members are more important than the whole world. So, we ought to put our houses vis-à-vis our souls in order, to avoid the wrath of God. If as a Christian, you have not set your house in order for the Lord to reign, you have, by extension, prepared it as a workshop for the enemy.