Some time ago, my wife and I were discussing getting a cleaning lady in every so often. No, we don't have an inheritance we've kept well hidden this whole time. But I was working two jobs and she was working late with increasing frequency. If it were to keep up, getting someone in every other week or so would have been a huge help. As it turns out, we never did it. (Talk is definitely cheaper!)
One thing I do remember thinking was that we needed to careful about who we picked. This person would have free run of our house and we needed to be able to trust them. After all, we're all susceptible to looking through someone else's medicine cabinet. (OK, we'll not you or me, but everyone else.) Would I really want someone there who could look through my bills, movies, fridge, etc? Inviting someone into your home like that opens you up to a level of personal scrutiny that is usually reserved only for immediate family.
(Side note. No, I do not think all cleaning people are Sally Snoopsalot. I'm sure most respect your privacy and don't really care anyway. I'm just paranoid, as a rule.)
This did get me thinking, though. As a follower of Jesus, my life should be such that Sally Snoopsalot could spend the weekend there rummaging through every nook and cranny and not find anything of interest. Why would I have a movie or book that I would be embarrassed for someone to find? Why shouldn't my finances be such that anyone could look through them?
We are called to live righteous lives. This means both in public and in private. Home isn't a place where we can have lower standards and convince ourselves that "everyone's like that."
My sister shared with me a phrase that has helped her. "Secrets keep us sick." James said it well too when he said "Confess your sins to one another, and pray for each other, so that you may be healed." Keeping things hidden only gives our sins a foot hold. We don't need to live transparently to everyone, but we do need to live transparently to someone.
One thing I do remember thinking was that we needed to careful about who we picked. This person would have free run of our house and we needed to be able to trust them. After all, we're all susceptible to looking through someone else's medicine cabinet. (OK, we'll not you or me, but everyone else.) Would I really want someone there who could look through my bills, movies, fridge, etc? Inviting someone into your home like that opens you up to a level of personal scrutiny that is usually reserved only for immediate family.
(Side note. No, I do not think all cleaning people are Sally Snoopsalot. I'm sure most respect your privacy and don't really care anyway. I'm just paranoid, as a rule.)
This did get me thinking, though. As a follower of Jesus, my life should be such that Sally Snoopsalot could spend the weekend there rummaging through every nook and cranny and not find anything of interest. Why would I have a movie or book that I would be embarrassed for someone to find? Why shouldn't my finances be such that anyone could look through them?
We are called to live righteous lives. This means both in public and in private. Home isn't a place where we can have lower standards and convince ourselves that "everyone's like that."
My sister shared with me a phrase that has helped her. "Secrets keep us sick." James said it well too when he said "Confess your sins to one another, and pray for each other, so that you may be healed." Keeping things hidden only gives our sins a foot hold. We don't need to live transparently to everyone, but we do need to live transparently to someone.
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