Take out the Trash

I love garbage day.  I also like recycle day.  Those days are Thursdays and Fridays for me each week.  I really like Thursdays and Fridays.  After the fire at our business we got excited on Tuesdays, the day they emptied out our big dumpster so we could refill it again for the following Tuesday.

One of my favorite activities (nearly a hobby) is taking donations to thrift stores.  I love dropping off boxes full of clothing, toys, books and décor that I just don’t need.  I really feel a weight off of my shoulders.  I feel lighter and less tied to this world.

Some of you (though not all) can relate completely.  You get me.

This superficial and short-lived enjoyment we experience of decluttering our homes needs to be applied in a much more profound way to our spiritual life.  We need to clean house and take out the trash.  Let’s look at this in two ways today: physical and spiritual (or tangible and intangible).

First, the physical (tangible).  Get the junk out of your home that does not honor God.  Clothes, movies, music, games, books, pictures, photographs, letters, artwork, magazines, certain medications, certain foods and drinks, posters, décor, idols.  Anything that you would want to hide, turn off, or change out of if Jesus either walked into your house, hitched a ride in your car or stopped for a visit at work.  Trash it all or even burn it.  Do not donate your sin or shame to someone else.

Take a tour of your home with a trash bag in hand and go to work.  You may be sadly surprised at how quickly you fill it and grab another.  Some things may be hard to part with, but do it anyway.  We don’t want to find ourselves trading God’s blessings for worthless dust.  “Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.” Jonah 2:8.

Secondly, the spiritual (intangible).  The same applies; get the junk out of your mind and heart.  If the Spirit of Christ has mercifully come to dwell within you, don’t make him room with fear, lust, anger and bitterness.  “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?” 1 Cor. 3:16. Jesus died so that you could be emptied of trash like this and could be filled with his gifts of faith and grace; overflowing with fruits like love, peace and kindness. 
Just like with your home, take a spiritual inventory of your heart.  What is there that needs to be brought out and burned?  Unforgiveness?  Hatred of others or yourself?  Envy?  Anxiety? Kill it all with the power of the Sword.  “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Galatians 5:24.  Don’t stop there, do not stay empty and vulnerable (see Matt. 12:43-45).   Fill the space with ammunition for when new rubbage tries to take up residence.  Filling up on God’s Word so that when new hurts want to hang out and fester, you can turn them away for lack of space.   “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16

I pray that you will hold your own trash day very soon and will ask for God’s help and his strength to accomplish it.  Rid yourself of what is toxic and causing gross stagnation in you.  It is time to be renewed and refreshed by the cleansing waters flowing freely from the throne of God.

“Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” 2 Cor. 7:1
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Ladies, do your spring cleaning for real this year.  Make a difference in your heart and home.  It’s time to take out the trash.