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)