“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.” Colossians 3:5, 8
It’s happened before… many times! My neighbor will, or I will see and ask him, “is today Trash Day?” The reason for the question is not really as mysterious as it may sound. Over the years the dates and actual pickups have been moved around so often that it’s hard to really know. Usually looking out at the road to see if everyone else on the street has set out their garbage will suffice. But not always!
Thursday is ‘Official’ trash, recycling and yard waste day. Three separate trucks run around to pick up those items. And while it would be inconceivable for our ancestors to imagine, ‘when’ and ‘how’ are critical criteria when it comes to collecting and hauling away my trash and garbage. Confusion arises when a ‘Holy-Day’ appears since, sometimes, that shifts ‘Trash Day’ to a Friday. But not always!
I have a ‘trash can’ and a separate ‘recycling can’ to dispose of my garbage. The regular ‘garbage can’ must be set separate from the ‘recycling can’ and the two must never mix! When a renter decided to throw it all together in 1 can, the trucks simply drove by… picking up neither! But when I separately set out recycled oil in a proper container, they decided not to take that either! Trash is confusing!
I could go on about the rules for ‘how’ and ‘when’ to take out my trash, but I would need a LOT more space than I have and it would still be confusing. I’ll admit to cheating! Once, when a 4’ florescent light bulb crashed to my floor, I swept it up, threw it into a separate bag and then hid that bag in with the regular garbage. ‘They’ don’t take fluorescent light bulbs! Go ahead… call me an Earth polluter!
According to the Word of God, as confirmed by my conscience, my life contains a LOT of garbage! It is no surprise that Jesus provides ‘CANS’ for that Trash. In many ways the God of the Universe is even more accommodating and kind than my County! Jesus doesn’t care about the HOW I package it, He simply cares about the WHEN and today’s verse makes it clear. So when is Jesus Trash day? NOW!
I have found that, unlike my garbage picker-uppers, God has an assistant to help with ridding me of my unwelcome, stinky garbage. When I am in step with Him, The Holy Spirit points out where garbage resides in my life. As I walk with Him, He will continue to urge me to get rid of the stuff that makes me stink. If I don’t get rid of it, He’ll step away for a while until I get with His Trash program!
Where do YOU stink and what does God want YOU to get rid of? What garbage are you holding onto and what is holding you back from putting it into His Can?
