“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV)
Sunday afternoon I’m on my way to my son’s house to deliver a package. As I turned the corner to get to his house, I noticed another house where there were more children’s toys by the mailbox at the end of the driveway; enough toys to re-open one of those big-box toy stores that is no longer in business. There were bikes, big wheels, balls for every sport, a BMW kid’s size car, and boxes overflowing with goods. The mailbox was so surrounded that could not escape, standing still with hands held up, as to surrender. Well, that’s what I saw. Cars were in the driveway because the garage was full of boxes with apparently more toys and boxes reaching the ceiling! Initially I thought the toys by the mailbox and end of the driveway were set out because the next morning was a big trash pick up day. The early morning scavenger hunters would have had though they were in junk heaven. As a matter of fact, really now, they would have needed two garbage trucks or would have had to call city workers in for mandatory overtime. Oh it would have been a justifiable decision!
When I got to my son’s house, I asked what was going on and as an on-the-spot reporter, I got the scoop. A family was just moving into the house. He went on to comment, “Who brings all that stuff when they move? They should have left that at the old house.” I laughed aloud and verbally agreed with his words. Remember, it was Sunday, so it was easy to transition into thought about Christian folks.
As Christian’s we switched houses, changed our permanent address. We moved from an old house that was filled with stuff that we definitely no longer needed and junk that would be out of place in our new house, one we shall just call our earthly tabernacle. Furthermore, we needed to leave behind that which was no longer seen of value in our new house, a house that represents a place where we stand on Joshua’s proclamation, “For me and my house, we shall serve the Lord!” Anything that did not match that assertion would have to stay at the house we were abandoning. We surely adjusted our lives, living behind the unnecessary, unwanted, upsetting, and our unfitting ways, things unacceptable and unusable in our new house! We surely have had heard a voice from on high urging us, in regard to all that stuff that had no place in our new house, saying, “Leave It at the old house!”
Look around and take inventory your house, the place that represents your new life in Christ Jesus. If you did not leave what should have been left behind, take a spiritual trip, and discard it in the sea of forgetfulness. It should have been left at the old house in the first place, but don’t worry, the Lord is giving you a chance today to do some housekeeping, some cleaning up, and an opportunity to get rid of what you should not have brought with you in the first place! Go ahead and say, “Thank you Lord!” Get busy discarding! Make room for the things that belong in your new house! The Scriptures are filled with clean-up tips. I have given you one below, but this is just a sample. There are many, many more and you can find them when you look into your Bible. You know, the one you sat somewhere in your house y. Smile a moment! Now get serious and have a great day! Be blessed!
“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32 NIV)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King