Two of the gospel writers relate this story of housekeeping. “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.” Matthew 12:45. Other than the demon part, this sounds like what happens to my house! But, Jesus isn’t talking about our earthly bricks and mortar houses, he’s referring to our flesh, blood and spirit homes, our bodies. In this scenario, an individual has “cleaned his house“, sweeping out all the demons that had been crashing there for many years. Hallelujah, that’s good news, isn’t it? Of course it is, the problem arises when he doesn’t fill it back up with godly stuff; Bible study, fervent prayer, ministry and gifts of the Spirit.
Once we come clean with our Redeemer, His Holy Spirit should become our new lodger, and these are the items that will make his stay the most comfortable. Now let’s look back at the house in the story. The owner had kicked out the bad tenants, but failed to move in the new, good one. So, when the previous freeloaders noticed the place was vacant, and clean, he invited all his rowdy friends to move in with him. Jesus finishes this tale of woe by saying, “That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” The moral of His story is, a clean house is vital to salvation, we must evict those old demons, but that is not enough. Once they hit the bricks, invite the Holy Spirit, and his decorating team, to make the new place their home. Will those previous pests try to sneak back in? You bet, but don’t let them find any room, every nook should be filled to the brim with God’s stuff!
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