Throwing Stuff Out

I love to throw things away.  You probably wouldn't know it by looking at my house. Don't forget I do not live alone!  But I love that feeling of taking something that I do not want anymore or have a use for anymore & throwing it away.  When the trash truck comes my junk is gone...for good!  Never to be seen by me again.  I love that!

We are preparing to have a yard sale to help our daughters raise money for a mission trip to Ireland.  The sale is this weekend.  We asked people to help us out & donate to us their junk for our sale.  Wow!  People have a lot of junk.  Anyway, I took some time and went through some of our stuff to see if it would be good enough for the yard sale.  I say "good enough" because after something lives in our house for any amount of time, it's value goes way down!  I mean way down! 
So, as I was going through things I realized I needed a trash bag, not for all the things I wanted to put in the yard sale, but for all the things I wanted to throw away!  Once I get in my groove, look out!  I might try to throw away a child if he stands still long enough.

All kidding aside, I think you get my point.  I like to throw stuff away.  It is gone, for good!  I like that.

I wish my life could be like that.  I wish sins I've committed in the past could be gone for good from my memory.  Yes, I know my sins are forgiven, that is not what I'm talking about.  I wish that once I've confessed my sin and accepted God's forgiveness that I would never think about it again.

I am reminded by the Apostle Paul that we are new creations.  We are made new when we accept Christ as our personal Lord and Savior.  But that doesn't mean the enemy will leave us alone.  Oh no!  Now we are at the top of his hit list.  And his greatest weapon against us is to remind us of our sin. It's like throwing something away, but it really never get's thrown away.  We can still see it at times & sometimes we can even smell it.  Oh, the enemy loves to do this.  It creates in us all kinds of emotions that are not of God.  We can become insecure, doubtful, maybe even depressed.

2 Timothy 1:7 says,
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

When we continue to remember past sins or we dwell on our weaknesses, know that is not God keeping this in your mind, it is the enemy!  We have to learn how to capture every thought that is not of God and throw it out. (2 Corinthians 10:5)  Recognize that once your sins are forgiven (in the trash can) they can't come out.  They are there for good!  Just like when my trash man takes my trash every week.

Maybe it would help if you really threw your sins in the trash.  Write them down and throw them away and let the trash man take them away.  Every time the enemy tries to bring it up again, remember that you are forgiven !  You are loved.  You are saved!