FOOD FOR THOUGHT
(03/07/2010)
TRASH
TIME
Cindy Hong
Last
summer I needed to buy a wedding gift. While it takes some of the creativity
out of gift giving, registries are a great invention because it cuts down
on the guessing game and the bride and groom get what they want as well.
So the fun part is going eenie, meenie, miney, moe down the registry printout
and seeing where the finger ends up. If it lands on something outside
the price range, you just start again at the next item and see what happens.
So on this day after several rounds, I landed on the picture for trash
cans. Now I'm a great believer in trash cans, having several of my own.
I use them every day, multiple times, grateful for a place to dump banana
peels and used tissues. I just never gave them as a gift before, much
less a wedding gift. But the bride and groom requested them, so can't
go wrong, right? Especially if the his and her trash cans come with a
gift card in the trash. So I made my way through the store to the trash
can department and started matching the merchandise to the picture on
the printed registry. After finding them, paying for them, and having
them gift wrapped, I left with a beautifully tied super-sized shopping
bag with two trash cans inside. The more I thought about this, the more
it made sense. What better way to start a new life together than by throwing
out the trash? What better time than now to get rid of the garbage in
our lives? The author of Hebrews encourages us to get rid of the weight
that hinders us and the sin that entangles us. Lent offers us a way to
dump our trash and get rid of the junk in our lives, whether it be greed
or bitterness, anger or envy, pride or prejudice. It gives us opportunity
to throw it all out. Trash days are the best; every Monday and Thursday
the truck comes and hauls the garbage away. Even if it is just one bag,
the house somehow feels a little cleaner and lighter. If we're into following
Jesus for the long haul, it would make sense to unload any extra weight,
so that we can live freely and lightly, the way we were meant to live.
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