Philippians 3:1-11
2 Corinthians 5:17

 

Garbage.  Everyone has it.  We throw things away that are of no use to us:  broken things, food wrappers, stained clothing, old food, paper, junk mail.  Some of us throw away things that are in perfectly good condition, we just aren’t using them any more:  clothes, books, furniture, etc.  Once we throw things away and the sanitation department disposes of our waste, we go to the landfill every weekend to rummage through our old trash.  What?  You mean you don’t do that?  Of course you don’t.    Neither do I.  But many of us do that with our spiritual and emotional garbage.

 

The Apostle Paul gives us his pedigree in the Philippians passage.  Beginning with verse 5, “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.”  He was the epitome of the perfect Pharisee.  He goes on to say, “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”  The King James Version uses the word “dung” in the place of rubbish.  Strong words.

 

Many of us have a lot of pull in our community.  A question to ask yourself is, “How do I use my influence?”  Do you use it to take advantage of situations like the Apostle Paul (then known as Saul) did before he met Jesus on the Damascus road?  Or do you set it aside drawing on the experience as Paul did when he evangelized the world – to serve God? 

 

The same Apostle wrote in 2 Corinthians 5, “¹Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”  Many of us have a tendency to rummage through what God has cleaned out of us.  We carry burdens of past sins and hurts.  None of that is necessary because we are new creations and have a righteousness that comes by faith from God. 

 

Let all of your garbage remain where it belongs.  When you rummage through all that garbage, you will certainly come away smelling of it.  God has cleaned us out and has made us a new creation in him.  Don’t mourn over it -  rejoice in the freedom that God has given you.  Be his faithful servant. 

--Melissa Vincent