Clutter
When you travel do you ever save something from a trip? Something that reminds you of the great time you had, like an airline ticket, a ticket stub from a concert, or one of those plastic drink cups from a sporting event? Or do you have imprinted T-shirts from years past? My parents used to have a jar with assorted match books they had collected from different places they had visited.
Truth be told, if I were to clean out a couple of cabinet drawers in my house, there would probably be numerous items like that.
Let’s face it; most of those things are just clutter or junk. They are not serving a function; they don’t really bring me any joy. In fact most of the time, they do just the opposite by adding stress to my life.
The other morning during my quiet time with God, I gazed upon a couple of things straight out of my past. One was a jar filled with corks from bottles of wine that had been consumed with friends over the years. Funny how God sometimes speaks through ordinary things…
After looking at those old corks from days gone by, the thought came to me that they are really trash from the past. They have very little use. I could think I will make a cool serving tray out of them some day, but honestly that probably is not gonna happen.
Why in the world am I keeping those???
How true that statement is of some of my other material stuff and most definitely stuff from my past like; my mistakes, emotional pain, or hurt from others. Why am I hanging onto junk from the past?
One of the verses from the apostle Paul that I have been repeating over and over this week is Philippians 3:12-14.
Pressing on Toward the Goal
12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
I love this verse because Paul admits he is not there yet, but he continues to persevere. Christ died that we might have freedom from all forms of captivity, including our junk.
Is there junk you need to get rid of so that you can take hold of all the blessings God has for you?
-Mary-