Clean Out the Filth

“(King Hezekiah) said to them, “Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place.”  II Chronicles 29:5

In 2009, the cable channel A&E debuted the show “Hoarders.” You think your grandma has a lot of stuff, but this was another level. The people profiled had serious psychological disorders which caused them to keep everything–including garbage, deceased pets and human waste. Extreme cleaners would come in with respirators and shovel the filth out. Many houses ended up being condemned. The thing was–most people living in it had no idea there was a problem.

Hezekiah became the king of Judah at age 25, taking the place of his father, Ahaz, who was extremely wicked. The first thing Hezekiah did was clean out the temple. It was full of filth from years of neglect. Its condition was symptomatic of the whole nation which had plunged into sin. Interestingly, Hezekiah had to tell the Levites (the priests) that the Holy Place needed to be cleaned out! Apparently, it was not even on their radar.

When we step further and further away from God and the truth of His Word, sin begins to pile up in our hearts. At first, we might notice a few things that aren’t what they should be, but we’re able to push them to the side. Eventually, we forget that those things are even there, or that they are even sin. Before we know it, we are living in filth, just like a hoarder who hasn’t taken out the trash for years. What is the state of your heart? Take a look around and make sure you aren’t ignoring the filth of your sin.

-Pastor Mike