We really don’t hear too much about it from the pulpit, but it is an essential part of our worship and Christian experience. If it matters to God, why should it not matter to His children?

We just read that all things are to be done decently and in order.

“Order is heaven’s first law, and the Lord desires His people to give in their homes a representation of the order and harmony that pervade the heavenly courts. Truth never places her delicate feet in a path of uncleanness or impurity. Truth does not make men and women coarse or rough and untidy. It raises all who accept it to a high level. Under Christ’s influence, a work of constant refinement goes on.

He who was so particular that the children of Israel should cherish habits of cleanliness, will not sanction any impurity in the homes of His people today. God looks with disfavor on uncleanness of any kind. How can we invite Him into our homes unless all is neat and clean and pure?”—Counsels on Health, p. 101. [Emphasis added.]

“Cleanliness, neatness, and order are indispensable to the proper management of the household. But when the mother makes these the all-important duties of her life, and devotes herself to them, to the neglect of the physical development and the mental and moral training of her children, she makes a sad mistake.”—The Adventist Home, p. 21.

The Christian life is about balance. Extremes do not work. We tend to be extremists.

But following are some good examples:

The prophet Balaam could not curse Israel. Why? “Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him” (Numbers 24:2). The camp of Israel was in such amazing order that Balaam knew that God’s blessing was upon the people.

Joseph was amazingly organized even under very difficult circumstances—in a dungeon! “The keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper” (Genesis 39:22, 23).

We can just look at creation and see how orderly the planets line up, the flowers' symmetry, and many other works. And after His resurrection from the tomb, Jesus even took the time to fold the sheets.

“And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself” (John 20:7).

“It was Christ Himself who had placed those graveclothes with such care. When the mighty angel came down to the tomb, he was joined by another, who with his company had been keeping guard over the Lord’s body. As the angel from heaven rolled away the stone, the other entered the tomb, and unbound the wrappings from the body of Jesus. But it was the Saviour’s hand that folded each, and laid it in its place. In His sight who guides alike the star and the atom, there is nothing unimportant. Order and perfection are seen in all His work.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 789. [Emphasis added.]

“Those who, after receiving the truth, make no change in word or deportment, in dress or surroundings, are living to themselves, not to Christ. They have not been created anew in Christ Jesus, unto purification and holiness.”—The Adventist Home, p. 22.

If you see that you need to reform on this point, you don’t need to do everything today or tomorrow.

We are representing God in this earth. If we don’t do His work, we are cheating ourselves.

“Correct all that is lax or careless in your speech or your habits. Do not pass this over as a matter of little consequence. Wherever you are, keep your room clean and tidy. Let no dirt of rubbish accumulate, ‘lest the Lord pass by and see your uncleanness.’ Christ is pure and holy and undefiled. Do not grieve the heavenly angels by cherishing untidy, shiftless habits. It rests with you yourselves to decide whether you will be accepted by the Lord as vessels unto honor, fit for His use.”—The Spalding and Magan Collection, p. 297.