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Lk. 11: 24-26 "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, "I will return to my house from which I came. And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first." The narrative of the unclean spirit tells how you can clean out your life, but by not putting the Holy Spirit in us only makes us more vulnerable to more evil. Without God in our lives, we may practice moral reformation, but we are really just empty shells waiting to be pounced on by evil. The swept-out house of the man's life could represent education, a good work ethic, presentable morals, religious ceremony, or self-improvement. Whatever means used to sweep the evil out of your life, it is only temporary, for without the Holy Spirit indwelling us, we do not have the security or the power to overcome evil. That is why education should include God's Word, His values, and Christ in us to overcome anything that slips into our lives through humanly manufactured means. God has to come into our lives in mighty power, or we cannot control our lives alone. We become victims of worldly influences that eventually return to our lives. We need His presence residing in us to ward off that which can bring us down, then we can stand in confidence knowing we are not our own but bought with a price and inhabited by the Lord to begin to make us Christ-like in all we do I (Cor. 6:19-20). --- Dan Nelson