Barnacles

Over time, our lives tend to fill up with the clutter and debris of sin and stuff. We always tie things back to sin but sometimes we are just tired of being tired. Sometimes we have to think about so many things, that we end up not thinking at all. Lets talk about how to see it, and how to conduct "spring cleaning" when we do see it.

Proverbs 4:23 NIV

23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Barnacle are little crustaceans and are related to crabs, lobsters and shrimp.

Large barnacle colonies cause ships to drag and burn more fuel, leading to significant economic and environmental costs. The U.S. Navy estimates that heavy barnacle growth on ships increases weight and drag by as much as 60 percent, resulting in as much as a 40 percent increase in fuel consumption!

The barnacles dont know they are slowing things down, they are just barnacles. Here’s the thing, the weight of life changes with the amount of barnacles that are still attached to our hearts. If we dont spend time cleaning the barnacles off our hearts, they just pile up. What we have to be careful of is that they dont just go away, we just end up getting used to the weight. What things do we have in our hearts that are slowing us down or weighing us down like those barnacles. Whats keeping us from being fully engaged or keeping us from flourishing.

Physical Heart. The beating heart implies life. Food and wine have a physical affect the heart and the heart can faint and tremble.

Psychological Heart. The heart attends intellectually; it also perceives, understands, debates, reflects, remembers, thinks, imagines, is wise.

Emotional Heart. the heart experiences intoxicated merriment, gladness, joy, sorrow, anguish, bitterness, anxiety, despair, love, trust, affection, lust, callousness, hatred, fear, jealousy, desire, discouragement, sympathy, anger, uncertainty.

Purposeful Heart. Morally, the heart can be gentle, lowly, holy, faithful.

Unfortunately, man’s heart is sadly divided and torn, It is often heavy and mostly overworked. Plainly, the heart can sometimes just be tired.

We all carry some kinda weight. We all have something that has clung to us and we cant shake it. Sometimes we know it, sometimes we dont. This last year of covid, isolation, job loss, loss of income, loss of life, has been bringing some of those issues to the forefront. God over the last year, has been showing us our barnacles!

We put most everything else above our heart. We spend more time and effort trying to get thru life with the barnacles attached. (walking in the pool)

But listen to Christ’s instructions on how to do spring cleaning:

Matthew 11:28–30 NLT

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Jesus will help you with the weight. Let him be the barnacle scraper

Let Jesus teach you.

Find life without the barnacles.

Real change happens in the heart. We can't expect to grow, or to help others grow if we are not taking care of our heart. Our heart cant be a wellspring if it is caloused and cold and hard and tired. Time to do some spring cleaing of the heart.