One thing we think about as a new year arrives, is getting rid of some of our past baggage. Even in a day, we accumulate a bunch of it. We don’t just wake up, eat, take care of our personal needs and go back to bed and sleep again. There are lots of spaces in between that get filled with good or bad stuff. I think they call it living.
I’m reminded of the story of a professor who showed his students how space can continue to be filled even when we don’t think it can’t hold anything else. He demonstrated by placing some rocks in a jar to the brim. The students agreed that the jar was full, but the professor added some small pebbles that filled some of the empty spaces. Again the students believed there was no room for more. When the teacher added sand to the jar, they were amazed to see how it maneuvered its way through the tiniest spaces. It had to be full now, but once more the professor showed that there was still room. He added water to the jar and sure enough, there was a place for that too.
Going through the process of purging things can be painful. It hurts to throw away memories of a past business; hopes and dreams that you once held in high esteem; tons of fabric you knew you’d use some day; chunks of wood which could be turned into fabulous sculptures. When the day ends, however, these are simply things that will not fit in the next vessel you move into. Reality sets in and you realize you don’t need these extras anymore.
The new year finds stores filled with storage containers and organizational items to help you. When it comes to our lives, however, getting rid of our internal clutter will not always fit into a plastic box. The baggage we carry around with us every day, includes things like anger, hatred, fear, depression, anxiety, loss, hopelessness, guilt over unconfessed sins and so much more. There isn’t room for it in anyone’s heart. How do you dump years of frustration, or months of sadness or loneliness? Is there a landfill that will take all that garbage and crush it into pieces – never to be remembered again?
Yes, there is! Jesus came to live among us for just that purpose. He told people to cast their burdens on His back. He invited them to ask for help. He kindly offered Himself as a servant, as an example of how we should live. He endured humiliation, false accusations, the abandonment of His people, the suffering, beatings and execution of the Roman cross. He even lost connection with His heavenly Father in that time. He took all our garbage to the cross with Him and buried it in the grave. Then He conquered Satan and the grave by returning to life.
We will still have troubles in the new year. Perfection will come after we leave this veil of tears, but we can be sure that God has washed our sins away. He’s taken the garbage out of our souls and we will one day live in paradise with Him. WOO HOO!
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Can you come visit? We have the same problem and neither my wife or I can seem to throw away much. But our children are both visiting with their families in March. We’ve got to dump a lot in a big hurry. Thank you for the motivating words.
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It’s really not an easy task because we become so attached to the things we accumulate. We started downsizing when we reached our 50th anniversary. We knew we were going to have to move to a smaller place eventually. We didn’t want our kids to deal with it either. That was four years ago and we still have more stuff than we need, but we did make a big dent. If you consider things like clothing, if you haven’t worn it for a year, give it away or donate it. Same things with old papers and letters. They serve no purpose anymore. Pictures can be downloaded to flash drives along with old movies and slides. W
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It’s really not an easy task because we become so attached to the things we accumulate. We started downsizing when we reached our 50th anniversary. We knew we were going to have to move to a smaller place eventually. We didn’t want our kids to deal with it either. That was four years ago and we still have more stuff than we need, but we did make a big dent. If you consider things like clothing, if you haven’t worn it for a year, give it away or donate it. Same things with old papers and letters. They serve no purpose anymore. Pictures can be downloaded to flash drives along with old movies and slides. We kept a few photo albums, because the kids still like to look at them. Make it a goal to get rid of something each day. That helps too. Hey maybe I should go into the de=cluttering business.
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Thanks. Great advice. We already filled four huge garbage bags full of clothing and donated to the Vietnam Vet organization. My two bags were work clothing that I’ll never wear since I retired. What we have to do is to just throw away the boy stuff. They’ll never miss it, but we look at it and transfer it to the new box. I keep telling my wife that the rapture is coming and we have to pack light, but I’m probably worse than she is.
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Haha. I can relate. My husband has trouble letting go of old jeans because they might be worth something someday
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I have been slowly going through things and trying to detach! We also had a teacher do the pebbles in the jar thing as an illustration. It was a great visual.
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I just heard David Jeremiah use that very illustration in a sermon!
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Great minds? More like the Holy Spirit at work.
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