Friday, June 28, 2013

KEEP THE LID ON!

As I live out the latter season of my life, there is more of my past to account for and deal with. Does God provide a Divine Shredder for my unrighteous, regretted, seamy or sinful past? 

The Psalmist employed analogies with which he was familiar in a nature-oriented era. He said that God casts my sins into the deepest sea, or banishes them as far as the East is from the West. However, I must first acknowledge and confess my transgressions and omissions and repent. I must accept God's forgiveness which is all of grace and mercy, and forgive myself as well, or I'm unable to move on with my life for the rest of the way Home.

In this electronic and technological age, we have another analogy at our fingertips. There is before me as an option on my computer a little icon labeled “Trash” or “Trash Can” where I can dump my unwanted writing, mistakes, or matters I have already dealt with. I shouldn't let rubbish or clutter accumulate on my computer--or in my life--but discard it regularly. 

Sometimes, sorry to say, I have gone back to the "Trash Can" on my computer to search for and retrieve something I already disposed of and should have left untouched and unremembered. 

The same is true of my life. Forgiven by God, I should no longer search through the trash or carry the guilt of my past sins, not even the stench of them. I should keep the lid on the Trash Can! 

 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).

TRASH CAN

What joy to discard
into the Divine Trash Can
the despicable bundle of my sins
and have them hauled away:
Hallelujah!

I must first drag the unwanted,
the unholy, the iniquitous
and deliberately deposit it
at the Place of Disposal
the foot of the Cross
by an act of my will.

Grateful for God's forgiveness
I kneel to place there
my burdens and sinfulness
conscious of my unrighteous heart.
Then I must abandon the refuse
put the cover of Jesus' shed blood
firmly in place
and accept His grace.

But too often I vacillate
and instead of turning my back
on the garbage and waste
I exercise my free will
and drag it back out
smelly and foul
in the process of decay
retrieving it as fondly
as a dog unearths
a favorite rotting bone
and I display it once more
contaminating myself
and causing me grief.

Lord, I don't want to turn back
to my sordid past
to the things that corrupt
I want to leave the lid
firmly on the Trash Can
and cement my resolve
by selecting a new document
and moving on with You!

(Luke 9:62; 1 John 1:9)








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