Cleaning Out My Closet

I haven’t kept this a secret: I like to shop.

I don’t play video games, golf, fish, hunt, ski, ride motorcycles, play fantasy football, gamble, or go camping.

So, as far as guys go—I’m pretty low-cost.

There are just two things my wife complains about me spending money on: Starbucks and clothing.

This is rather embarrassing… my clothes take up the bigger section of our closet.

There’s only so much space.

If I don’t ever clean out my closet, there’s no room for new items.

That’s why I like cleaning out my closet.

It makes space for something better.

I think this is true in life.

We have limits.

Cognitive psychologist George A. Miller, in his paper “The Magic Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information” asserts that the number of objects the average human can hold in working memory is approximately seven.

Recent research has shown that without using “clustering,” the number is more likely three or four.

What’s the point? We have limits.

The average Supermarket carries approximately 45,000 unique items.

Have you ever had a difficult time finding something there?

Yup, we have limits.

How about friends? How many friendships can we actually maintain?

British anthropologist Robin Dunbar—in his book “How Many Friends Does One Person Need,” says we can only keep friendships with 150 people at any given time.

We have limits… and those limits require us to let go of one thing in order to make room for another.

Sometimes we have to unlearn something in order to learn something new.

Sometimes we have to stop one activity in order to make time for another.

Sometimes we have to remove a thing to make space for something better.

Jesus told the following story about limits and taking up space…

“A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden.’

The gardener answered, ‘Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. If we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down.’” (Luke 13.6-9 NLT)

Notice what the land owner said about the tree: “It’s just taking up space in the garden.”

In our lives, things take up space—and there is limited space.

Consider…

Is the stuff taking up space in my life fruitful or is it just wasting space?

Maybe it’s time to clean out my closet and make room for something new.

Maybe it’s time let go of some lower things so that I am able to embrace higher things.