Cleanup Time

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 NASB) Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-8 NASB) Today's devotional was written by my son, Clark Wrather, who is the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Broken Bow, Oklahoma. A few weeks ago, I decided to finally get rid of some of the junk that was cluttering up my house. There were several things that just needed to go and I'm not sure why I still had them. There was an old Apple laptop from 1997, which did not work. I still had the printer that went with it, which worked occasionally, if I had a computer that could use it. There was a motorcycle helmet, that I really liked. It was a sleek, black, cruiser style, half-helmet and relatively new and unused. Yet, this helmet was just as much clutter as well. It had been unused for a few months, because I am no longer allowed to ride my motorcycle (I guess my wife is concerned about having to raise three boys on her own.?). I had this junk, but what was I going to do with it? Should I throw it away? Should I call Swap Shop? Should I place classified ads? These were going through my mind, when I decided to be adventurous. I put all of my junk on eBay. For those who may not know, eBay is an online auction. You put digital pictures of your junk online and other people bid on it. At the end of seven days, the highest bidder wins. They pay you and after receiving payment, you send the junk to them. All of the junk I mentioned earlier, was sold on eBay. I thought the almost new helmet would do well, but it brought in less than ten bucks. I didn't think the ancient apple laptop, that could not be turned on, would do very well. Someone actually paid over seventy dollars for it. I was going to be surprised if anyone bought the old printer, but someone did. After everything was boxed up and dropped off at the post office, I was bemused by the whole experience. You probably have some things cluttering up your life. You may have some things junking up your house, but what clutter do you carry around on the inside? Most of us have some. Ask God to get rid of that junk for you. Box it up and drop it off with him. There are some things that we never realize as junk, like that motorcycle helmet of mine. These are usually goals and desires we have that are completely outside of God's will for our lives. We fantasize about how valuable they are when in reality they are worth very little. Some things may be worth more than we could possibly imagine. These may be talents that we have and do not use. It may be something else. The point is that what we value and what God values are often two different things. Sift through the clutter of your heart, box up all the unused talents, broken dreams, unrealistic goals, selfish desires, petty grudges, bad habits, strongholds of sin and whatever else you find and give it to God. You see, much like eBay, he is always buying. He wants the junk in your life and he will replace it with his blessing, his guidance, and his spirit. Give it a try and offer up that clutter to God. After the transaction is completed, you may find yourself quite bemused.