It’s hard to throw away old stuff and our old ways.

I read recently that one of the fastest growing business is storage units, closely following the Dollar General Stores. People have more ‘stuff’ than places to put them.

In our house, we have storage units we like to call  ‘Junk Drawers’. If we have an unexpected visitor we’ll do a swipe of stuff into the nearest drawer to hide all remnants of our ‘clutter’. I recently performed an ‘uncluttering’ and found some interesting items I forgot still existed.

Items included:

  • 10 old TV remote control batteries that I hoped would regenerate but found that it wasn’t meant to be.
  • 62 ink pens, each representing one of our many banks in the area.
  • A 5 year old receipt from Auto Zone on a lawn mower battery with a 24 month guarantee.
  • Some eclipse glasses from our big one 3 years ago. We have to be ready for the next one.
  • A receipt from Jim Fuqua Appliance Repair dated 1987. Although we don’t have the washing machine and Jim has since retired, a lifetime guarantee was promised and I holding him to it.
  • And finally, a love letter from my fiancé from 1972. After 48 yrs of marriage, She was disappointed to find it was in the junk drawer, but is now happy to have it framed and hanging on our bedroom wall.

You know, it’s hard to throw away old stuff and our old ways.

Eph 4:21-24 says to get rid of the Old Self and to put on the New Self.

Col 3:9-10 says to lay aside the Old Self and put on the New Self.

It could be that the drawers represent our lives. What we put in the drawers or leave in the drawers is up to us. We have the freedom to fill our lives with ‘junk’ or rubbish or with whatever the world gives us, or we can make sure we put  ‘in the drawer’ The things of Christ.

Paul, in his letter to the church of Ephesus, pointed out some things that may be in the drawers of our lives, that we need to make a conscious decision to avoid, to lay aside, and to clear out. Look to Eph 4:17-32. Especially clear out  deceit, falsehood, anger, unwholesome words, bitterness, wrath, slander, and malice. But what happens if we just clear out the junk and then put the drawers back into the cabinet, empty?  How long will that cabinet stay empty?

A 17th Century philosopher wrote, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in every person that can only be filled by the Creator and He is made known through Jesus Christ”.

So, we just can’t leave the drawers of our lives empty…because something or someone or specifically the devil is always ready to creep in and fill it up again.  First Peter 5:8 reminds us to be vigilant against that adversary waiting to devour us.

Find the open, self-explanatory solutions to our ‘Junk Drawer’ dilemma in Col. 3, 8-17.

  • Verse 8…To put them aside.
  • Verse 10..To put on the new self.
  • Verse 12..have a new heart.
  • Verse 13..To forgive.
  • Verse 15..Let the peace of Christ rule your heart.
  • And especially, “Beyond all things, Put on Love”. The perfect bond of unity, doing all things in the name of The Lord Jesus (Col. 3: 14-17).

Dale Wiley