Mid-week Devotional:
Week of June 1, 2026
This week I continue to “declutter” as workers continue to paint the exterior of our house and deck. I find myself thinking of my grandparents who lived in a very small house. Their house had a small kitchen, a tiny bathroom, and 2 small bedrooms only large enough for a double bed in each of them. The rest of their house was an “open area.” It contained a big round table, a glass curio cabinet, 2 rocking chairs, a couch, a small television, my grandmother’s treadle sewing machine, and a wooden buffet. My grandmother was a “collector.” She was not worried about how cluttered her home got. She kept items for lots of different reasons. She stored her collection of cups in the curio cabinet along with glasses and plates to use to serve those who came to visit. She used her collection of materials in the spare bedroom to sew quilts, dresses, and towels that were given as gifts to everyone she knew. She used her collection of threads to crochet doilies while she rocked and shared life beside Grandpa in their rocking chairs. The “clutter” that surrounded her didn’t bother her for all of it had a purpose.
As I looked around our home, I found myself admitting that I am also a “collector” of things. Our walls are covered with photos of family members, flowers, and birds. Paintings created by my children and grandchildren hang among the photos. Objects that were once our parents; coffee pots, egg baskets, my father’s skates, and kitchen canisters that held flour and sugars for baking line the top of our kitchen cupboards. As I looked at all these “things” I have collected I came to the realization that none of them have a purpose in my daily life. None of them have helped anyone within my family or the community within I live.
It was easy to declutter our house. But there was one place where there was no decluttering. That place is my “office space.”
My “office space” is where I write each Mid-week Devotional on my computer. To the left of me there is a bookcase. It has 5 shelves and is 10 ft long. There were no books removed from this bookcase during my decluttering. Each shelf is filled from end to end with books that are very important to my journey of faith. All of the books on these shelves focus on God’s presence within the daily lives of those who have gone before us. All the journeys of faith within scripture are powerful accounts of God's continual presence.
Scripture from the Old Testament book of Psalms, Psalm 23, reminds us…
“1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; 3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff – they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.”
This is God’s word for God’s people. Thanks be to God. AMEN.
I pray that you find time daily to open your Bible and listen to the words of those who have gone before you. Each one of them felt God’s presence beside them.
Today and in all the days ahead may you remember that God is there beside you with every breath you breathe.
You are never alone.
Peace be with you.
AMEN.