Fill the Closet

Have you ever had an extra closet that stayed empty? 

Me neither. 

If we have empty space, we usually fill it, often with useless, unnecessary items we think we need but don't. 

We do the same thing spiritually. 

If we become lax about our time with the Lord, it's not because we don't have the time. It's because we'd rather fill that space with less important things. 

I thought of this when reading Jeremiah 2:13: “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water." 

Neglecting our relationship with God always results in putting something or someone else in His place. Instead of filling our "closet" with time with our Lord, we fill it with things we think we need, but don't. 

Jesus told us the one thing we need in our closet. 

Do you know what He said? Read it here: Luke 10:38-42

Bible Study 

1. Read the following passages that describe some of the things that fill mankind's "broken cisterns." The "boasting of what he has and does" would equate to power, prestige, education, and fame. Can you identify some sinful "cravings" and "lusts of the eyes" prevalent in our world today? 

1 John 2:15-17: Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.   

2. Sometimes we want to "fit in" with our culture so we don't feel odd, and Christian parents often want their children to fit in. But Romans 12:2 reveals how God wants us to "fit in" with the world. Renewing and transforming our minds happens only as we spend time with the Lord. 

Romans 12:2: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. 

3. Just like we fill an empty closet, we should pour good things into our spirit as we get rid of the bad things. 

Ephesians 4:22-24: You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
copyright 2016, Gail Burton Purath, BiteSizeBibleStudy.com