We had lots of adventures in that apartment. There were a lot of frozen burritos, Power Bars and Walmart brand Diet Coke consumed. Dairy Queen runs for Blizzards right before they closed. Late night studying and study groups. Boyfriends came and went and came again. (For more about this read, Rush a Club, don’t rush a marriage) There were birthday parties, engagements, and late nights of Billy Blank’s Tae Bo workouts (in order to burn off the Dairy Queen Blizzards).
At the ripe old age of 20, I was ready to be completely independent and take on the world. Well, almost. I’d already lived in a dorm and an on-campus apartment but this was real. I had a real landlord and real bills. Of course, I was rolling in money with all that I’d saved from my summer job and the amazing hourly wage from my on-campus job. When my parents moved me in it was probably as big a milestone for them as for me. I’m certain my mom was way more apprehensive than I was. However, my dad seemed to keep the apprehension under wraps and stepped in with some solid advice.
“Two important things to remember,” he said. “Number 1, Lock the doors and double check them. Number 2, Take out the trash.”
Solid, logical, practical dad advice. These pieces of advice were important but I didn’t realize how important until I had long moved out of that apartment on 20th St.
Lock the doors. This seems like adulting 101. Keep your doors locked to keep people out and protect your stuff. Locked doors will keep you safe while you sleep. Locked doors keep unwanted visitors (both animal and human) out. However, as I’ve thought about this practical advice, I’ve taken it as spiritual advice. I want to keep out the enemy out of my life? Lock away what he wants to access. The enemy has come to seek, kill, and destroy me, so I have to lock him out. He wants my peace. He wants my joy. He wants my confidence. He wants yours too. How do you lock the door on those? Through truth.
When the enemy threatens my peace, the response is “Abundant peace belongs to those who love Your instruction; nothing makes them stumble.” Psalm 119:165.
When he wants my joy “You reveal the path of life to me; in Your presence is abundant joy; in Your right hand are eternal pleasures. ” Psalm 16:11
When he wants my confidence, “God is within her, she will not fall.” Psalm 46:5a Combatting his attacks by locking out lies with truth will work every time.
Take out the trash– This seems so obvious, right? Of course, we’re going to take out the trash. That’s just gross not to take it out. However, the more I was around other college students, I realized how some people don’t take the trash out regularly. I also realized when we were the ones responsible for it EVERY TIME, it seemed like such a time-consuming burden that could easily be put off another day.
When I take this lesson as a spiritual one, it can cause deep exposure. Trash in our life is the sin. Sin needs to be dealt with on the daily. If you ignore the little sins, they pile up and soon jobs are lost, relationships ruined, and you sit and wonder exactly what got you to that point. Most believers don’t wake up one day and go, “today is the day I cheat on my spouse” or “today is the day I gamble with my company’s money and lose”.
Most of the time it begins with small decisions, small sins, that pile and stack in the corner until the stench of them overtake the whole house. So, take out the trash. Stay committed to time in God’s presence. Stay committed to dealing with the small temptations and taking thoughts captive (putting them in the right spot in your brain). If we deal with the little sins, God is faithful to keep us from temptation we can’t handle. “God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation,
He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13.
Solid adulting advice from my dad became solid spiritual advice as I grew up. I still check my doors every night. I have a wonderful husband who usually takes out our trash, but I take it out if I see it needs to be taken out. Whether you’re full on adulting and need the spiritual reminders or you’re brand new to living on your own and need practical advice, remember this: lock your doors and take out the trash.
