24 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”
27 And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!”
28 But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
Dear God,
Your Word is teaching me that I cannot be empty.
You have revealed areas of my life which You have cleansed. You have revealed other areas that You are cleansing even now. But I dare not suppose that cleansing is enough. Once cleansed, something must rush in and fill the clean and empty space. William Barclay lays out Your fundamental rule: "You cannot leave a man's soul empty" (In The Gospel of Luke, 1953, p. 152).
My friend Tom taught me the value of practicing the principle of replacement. Once God cleanses us from some sin or evil, I must be diligent to fill that void. I must practice the Biblical principle of replacement. "It is not enough to drive out the evil; the good must come in" (Barclay, p. 152). So I study and memorize Your word. I quote it back to myself. I fill my heart and mind with Your truth. I read good books. I listen to uplifting music. I am replacing the clutter, the noise, the profane vulgarity, the cruelty, rudeness and un-civility of a broken, sin-cursed and pervasive prevailing culture with truth, love, faith, and hope.
Many people attempt to control their dark drives and sinful desires with rules condemning wrong. We develop elaborate personal rules, entire church disciplines, and Christian conferences devoted to the negative "Thou shalt nots" of religion. "It is always the peril of religion that it should present itself in a series of negatives. True, the cleansing is necessary; but after the rooting out of the evil there must come the filling with the good" (Barclay, p. 153).
So much of my life is filled with doing. It is easy to perform good actions, even working for You, until my soul becomes empty. Through business and neglect, I can work myself into a place of spiritual dryness devoid of a dynamic awareness of Your Presence. At that point, I expose myself to the spiritual danger of emptiness. It is said that nature abhors a vacuum. Something must rush in and fill emptiness.
So I hear Your Word reminding me, "Be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18). You remind me that my doing must come from a full heart, filled with Your Holy Spirit by saturating myself in Your Word, in prayer, in Your sanctifying Presence. So I am here again today. Longing. Lingering. Loving You.
Fill my emptiness so full with Your fullness, that when life jostles me today, I will splash out perfect love on everyone who bumps me.
Amen.
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