What Does Your Front Porch Say About You?

Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7 NLT

I like front porches. They are fun to decorate, they are the opening to our houses, they are part of our personality.

So what does your front porch say about you?

I’ve been on front porches that are wonderful. The decoration is delightful and warm. They are tidy, and I like to tarry there as I wait for the door to open. I see my friends likes and passions even before I see them.

So I decided to take a look at my own front porch.

We lost a big palo verde tree that was in the front yard and it always had many, many flowers. When the wind blew and the flowers fell, they would swirl around and accumulate at my front door. They hid in the corners and under the floor mat crevasses.

Now, I have to explain, I don’t have many people who use the front door. Most come in through the garage. So I don’t always see what someone new coming to my house would see.

I have my plants in decorative pots on the porch, they’re still alive, that’s good.
I have a really neat old wooden folding chair on the porch with a pillow artfully arranged on it.
I have a welcome plaque with ducks on it to welcome people in.
I have a wall decoration that has 1 Chronicles 16:34 on it: Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever.
I have a great deal of dead flowers and dirt on the porch floor.

The tree is gone but I still had not cleaned up from the last wind storm.

I’m reminded that our front porch is much like our lives with Jesus. We present ourselves to people with how we want them to see us. We decorate our bodies and dress ourselves with our likes and passions. We artfully arrange ourselves to ‘look’ just right. But when we stop and look down, we still see the debris of our sin. We forget to clean it up.

Now we can’t clean our own sin, but Jesus can. He can take the broom and sweep away the sin, but we have to ask Him for forgiveness. He wants to get into the corners of our lives and pull out what needs to go and spruce up what has fallen in disrepair. He wants to be the front porch of our lives.

And, as with my front porch needing to be continually tended to, to have the effect I want to show to people, I also need to continually be with Jesus. He is not just a once a week kind of cleaner. He likes to clean us immediately when we make the mistake. He likes to mop up before anything can become sticky. He doesn’t want anything to hinder our relationship with Him.

So here is the question: What does your front porch say about you? Do you need to visit with Jesus and ask for cleaning time?

Jesus,
How I thank You for appointing me Your representative here in my area of the world. I truly want to shine Your personality, but so often mine seeps through. I have so much that needs to be cleaned and I fail You so often. Please help me stay with You today, to be in Your presence and to allow myself to hear what You have to say. Forgive me for my sins, strengthen me to please You and proclaim Your presence in my life. I love You so very much Jesus!
Amen