Trash Confused With Treasure

Ever watch that reality TV program, Hoarders? There are people who really love their trash! They cannot throw anything away and over time they turn a beautiful home into a garbage dump. Years ago, my folks took Bev and I to look at a house they were considering for purchase. When we stepped through the front door, we saw trails through a maze of broken furniture, old newspapers, and just plain junk! The stuff was piled 6' high everywhere in the house, tons of it cluttering a home that could have been quite lovely. Cats had urinated all over the place and it smelled terrible! The lady who lived there was a hoarder before the syndrome had a name.

I like to clean up, throw away, and keep life lean and clean - except for books! Throwing away a book, even one that I know I'll never read again, is hard for me. Why? I love books. Throwing away yesterday's newspaper brings no angst because I attach no value to it.

What's the state of your heart house?  

Are the rooms in it full of clutter?  

Is the memory room stuffed with yesterday's regrets and old grudges?  
Is the treasure room filled floor to ceiling with dusty trinkets of no real value?  
Are old sins and habits piled high in the living room?

Here's the hard question. Why are you hanging onto those things? Could it be that you still love them, that you are unwilling to part with them because just having those old familiar things around comforts you in some strange way? Get rid of it! We cannot grasp the treasure of God while our hands are full of the trinkets of this transitory world. The stuff we hold onto reveals what we love. If we hold onto old habits that we know offend God, it reveals that we love them. If we admit that and stop offering up excuses, we can break their hold over us with the help of the Spirit.

In Ephesians, we learn that those of us who Christ's disciples need to clean up our lives! It says "...everything-and I do mean everything-connected with that old way of life has to go. It's rotten through and through. Get rid of it!" (4:22, The Message)  

 

On Hoarders we see community groups who offer to come in and clean out the hoarder's home. They can only offer, however. Nothing can be done until the person living in the trash wants a change! God offers a thorough house cleaning to us, but He won't step in and take away the old stuff unless we invite Him to do it. Let's cooperate with Him! The Bible says, "there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes. You must display a new nature because you are a new person, created in God's likeness-righteous, holy, and true." (Ephesians 4:23-24, NLT) It takes real faith to let go of what we know so we can take hold of what is promised, doesn't it?

Disciple, pray today that the Holy Spirit will show you the real state of your heart house. If He reveals that you have mistaken trash for treasure, let Him remove the those things that would keep Him from moving in. It's important that He does because "wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, he gives freedom. ... And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more." (2 Corinthians 3:17-18, NLT) He makes those He inhabits beautiful!

By the way, that old house full of junk that Mom and Dad showed us all those years ago became their home; a nice country home, inviting and comfortable, a place of hospitality that has served the family well for more than 30 years!  

Let God transform your life. Don't confuse trash and treasure. Clean out the junk. Create true beauty.

______________

Are you living in an old man's rubble?

Are you listenin' to the father of lies?

If you are then you're headed for trouble;

If you listen too long, you'll eventually die!

Are you puzzled by the way that you're behavin'?

Do you wonder why you do the things you do?

Are you troubled by your lack of resistance;

do you fell that something's got a hold on you?

Well, deep within' you there's a spiritual battle,

there's a voice of the darkness and a voice of the light.

And just by listening you've made a decision,

'Cause the voice you hear is gonna' win the fight

Are you living in an old man's rubble?

Are you listenin' to the father of lies?

If you are then you're headed for trouble;

If you listen too long, you'll eventually die!

But if you're living as a new creation,

If you're listening to the Father of light:

Then you're living in a mighty fortress

and you're gonna' be clothed in power and might!

Old Man's Rubble - Amy Grant, 1977