The other day I went to the local dump with my husband. We had some garbage and household junk we needed to get rid of. Old broken things, stuff no longer used and just laying around using up space. It always feels good to get the house emptied of our junk. It’s like I can breath a little easier, rest a little more with all that clutter gone.
We drove down the road to the dump, stopped at the office and paid our small fee to dump our stuff. Then we pulled up to the mound of garbage and junk, my husband jumped out of the van to toss our stuff while I sat inside and waited. Sitting there I looked around at all the garbage, all the household waste. Broken chairs, old couches, busted up tables, shattered windows, kitchen garbage, the list of junk, endless.
And the seagulls swarmed, squawking searching for some morsels in the household waste.
I kept looking around, looking at all the waste. All of us emptying our homes, our garages trying to make them neat and tidy. Getting rid of the clutter because it makes us feel better. Living in a throw away society without a care. Getting tired of one thing and throwing it away so we can purchase something new. Knowing that once a week the garbage truck will come or we’re free to head to the dump.
And then I thought, do I, do we treat God like He’s the dump. Our lives can get so messy, so filled with sin, I behave in ways I know I shouldn’t, I don’t love my husband as I should or as I want to. I don’t give God what He deserves of this life that He’s given me. I continue on selfishly with this life of mine…like it’s mine and only mine. Yet when I reach the end of myself and see the garbage in me, I turn to God and dump it at His feet.
I don’t know, there was just something about sitting in that dump that made me think. Seeing all that we waste, all that we bring to the dump. It’s like out of sight, out of mind and we waste because we can just bring it to the dump and then we don’t have to look at it anymore. But it sits in the land and the pile of waste grows.
So what if what we threw away affected us, what if it was no longer just so simple as running to the dump without a thought of what we’re throwing away. What if it cost us way more than that 10 bucks, what if it cost 50 a 100 or a 150 bucks would we live differently.
Once again I wonder do I treat God like the dump…live this life of mine my way and then when I’ve had enough I dump my crud at His feet, is it so easy, do I cheapen the price of being able to kneel at His feet. This GRACE that He has given, do I take it for granted and forget that He is a Holy God.
Do I think I can continue to live life my way because He’ll always be there and I can always come to Him, just like I can always go to the dump with my junk. Have I forgotten the price He paid, it is a price that is immeasurable. And my crud hurts Him and it affects those around me.
LORD, forgive me when I live my relationship with you like I'm going to the dump.
A pure piece of land taking in all my waste, all my junk…taking it so I don’t need to see it anymore or live in it anymore.
A sinless body broken for me, my sins upon His shoulders. "For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ." 2 Cor. 5:21
May I never forget the cost and may it cause me to live this life He has given me differently. May I waste less and live for Him more.
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