I
was watching the Waste Management Truck pick up our apartment complex’s garbage
today. I was glad that it was gone. It can get a little smelly, even in the
winter months. There was a week where the WM didn’t pick up the garbage. Boy
was that awful. It was in the summer and it had been pretty HOT during the
week. Some of that garbage stank really bad.
I
take my regular garbage out about every 5 days or so or until my garbage sack
gets full. It would be nice if the outside garbage can was more convenient, but
I live on the 3rd floor in my apartment building, and my knees don’t
like going up and down those stairs all the time. I have sometimes taken out the garbage twice
in one day, especially if I have been doing a lot of deep cleaning of the
refrigerator and sorting for the recycling. Cleaning out the fridge is not a
fun task, because sometimes I find “things” that were forgotten.
This
got me to thinking about my personal garbage I may carry around with me daily.
Huh. What kind of garbage you ask? Well,
how about: gossip, slander, deceit, lies, lust, anger, unforgiveness,
slothfulness, hate, fear and there are probably more. Do you realize that these
are really stinky? They are a filthy
stinking aroma. This is not what I want
in my life at all. I need to take this
garbage out!
I
find that “taking my garbage out” daily before the Lord is so cleansing. I feel lighter and more refreshed. If I leave “stuff” until later to take care
of, such as unforgiveness and anger, then bitterness begins to grow. Bitterness become like mold and mildew and can
spread and get into everything; so difficult to get these out.
My
life is to daily be a fragrant offering to the Lord. This means daily coming into the Presence of
God, having conversation with Him and allowing Him to show me what I need to
take out to the garbage. I will tell you first hand that it is not easy to
confess your faults or sin. However, God is our Father, and He is gentle in
teaching us. This concept may be
difficult for some to understand, due to past experiences with an earthly dad
that wasn’t gentle, but God has so much more love for us. He wants to help us,
but we have to be willing to undergo those times of confessions (cleaning).
For
example: I was driving to the post office one day not too long ago. I was cut
off three times by people. The first
time I shrugged it off, but by the third time, I was getting a bit tiffed! I
verbalized that (no, I didn’t swear) by making a derogatory remark about the
drivers of the vehicles. At that precise
moment, I felt conviction from Holy Spirit. I could have argued that I was
right, but deep down in my heart, I knew I wasn’t. I immediately repented and blessed those
drivers that cut me off. I blessed their day. I even prayed that the Lord would
show them His love in such a way that they would stop and consider others
safety. In that moment, I took the garbage out. It didn’t have time to fester and get old
and moldy.
So,
I encourage you to take your garbage out daily or even hourly if you have
to. To walk in a manner worthy of the
Lord is to walk with Heaven’s fragrance surrounding you. Don’t be a garbage
can. Wouldn’t you want to attract butterflies rather than flies?
