CLEAN THE CLOSET - All Our Daily Bread Daily Devotionals for 2026

Our Daily Bread - Saturday, October 23, 2016
by RBC Ministries

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CLEAN THE CLOSET

READ:

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
-Psalm 139:23

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Jeremiah 1-2
1 Timothy 3

To this day, I can still hear my mother telling me to go and clean up my room. Dutifully, I would go to my room to start the process, only to get distracted by reading the comic book that I was supposed to put neatly in the stack. But soon the distraction was interrupted by my mother warning that she would be up in 5 minutes to inspect the room. Unable to effectively clean the room in that time, I would proceed to hide everything I didn't know what to do with in the closet, make the bed, and then wait for her to come in - hoping that she wouldn't look in the closet.
This reminds me of what many of us do with our lives. We clean up the outside of our lives hoping that no one will look into the "closet" where we have hidden our sins by rationalisation and excuses and by blaming others for our own faults.
The problem is that while looking good on the outside, we remain well aware of the mess on the inside. The psalmist encourages us to submit to the cleansing inspection of God: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24). Let's invite Him to inspect and cleanse every corner of our lives. - Joe Stowell
Lord, forgive me for looking good on the outside while attempting to hide my faults and failings. I desire for You to cleanse my life so that I may walk with You in full integrity.

We can own up to our wrongs - because we can't hide them from God anyway.

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