My son has developed an unhealthy obsession.
Every time we open a package in the kitchen the little imp sneaks up and snatches the box. Sometimes out of the trash. He then scampers away, giggling, to combine it with a growing cardboard heap in the corner of the living room. He has amassed a collection of ripped up beer boxes, empty pizza boxes, crumpled soda boxes, and kitchen construction boxes. Its a situation.
Some are garages for his matchbox cars and some are ferry boats crossing Lake Michigan to visit Nana and some are racetracks. All are equally precious in his mind – even the ones that are CLEARLY garbage. I have tried putting my foot down and insisting he tosses them out. I have tried negotiating. I have tried bribes. All to no avail. Although he did sweetly informed me, “Mommy, I will let you throw the boxes away … in twenty years.”
The older siblings are useless. They think he is adorable (he is) and that the whole obsession is hilarious (it was – at first) so not only do they offer him boxes, but they side with him when I announce its time to get rid of them.
Ty’s little hoarding issue is amusing. But it also got me thinking about how we all are hoarders. Maybe not cardboard boxes but certainly garbage. Old sins, bad habits, resentments, worry, doubt, insecurity. All of us have a way of hanging on to junk.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
God promises to set us free from sin if we confess and turn to Christ. He also promises to carry our burdens. But like little children, we grip our problems and hoard our sins rather than experiencing the joy that comes from Christ set us free.
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36
I can’t help but wonder if God scratches his head and asks, “Why on earth do these kids want to hold on to that worthless garbage?”
Sometimes, even though we know it’s garbage, we choose not to let go. Sometimes we let our burdens become our identity rather than our freedom. Sometimes we don’t want to face our dark secrets. And sometimes we are afraid to approach the Father and admit we need help.
God loves us too much to see us enslaved to our sin or our burdens. And we can trust him completely because he deeply cares for us.
“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10
Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. Psalm 55:22
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
Notice in the verses above the way God is described. His steadfast love will not depart from you. He is a God of peace. He is faithful and just. He promises to sustain us and he will not permit the righteous to be moved. He cares for us and has compassion on us. This is a God who can be trusted with our tender hearts and our deepest burdens.
Its not easy to turn from sin. Its not easy to face our own weakness. Its not easy to lay our burdens down. But it is exactly what we all must do in order to walk freely. God’s living room has plenty of room for your pile of rubbish and he will gladly take it off your hands.
What are you clinging to that you know Christ is asking you to let go of? I invite you to pray. Confess. Lay it down.
Never forget you are loved by a God who wants nothing more than your whole heart. Nothing surprises or shocks Him. You can wholly trust him. With all of your trash. But the first step is being willing to let it go.