We all have ‘junk drawers’ in our homes, mine is in the kitchen. The other day I was digging in the drawer looking for tape. However I took me a while to find it because I had to shift through too much stuff. I thought to myself; ‘How in the world did these things find its way back into this drawer?’ You see, I had just cleaned that drawer out about 6 months ago. I found all kinds of crazy items. Tools that belong in the garage tool box. Different colored ribbon of all lengths pretty much tangled together into one knot. Keys of all sizes, that unlocks who knows what. Little army men and random small toys, mind you my children are young adults. Batteries that probably have been discarded because they had were no longer useable but we didn’t know how to ‘properly’ get rid of them them. There were hook, nails, screws, tacks and other dangerous things that can bite your hand as you dig through the dreaded drawer.
As I was wondering, how in the world this drawer got so full again, I realized something. Sometimes when I want to do a ‘quick’ pick up around the house, I will throw the random things into the drawer. Instead of properly taking care of these items I will just let it pile up to the point that the drawer is not even functional. Well this is a simple fix, just take care of these items the way I should in the first place. Right?
Unfortunately I do the same thing with the ‘junk’ inside of me, those negative thoughts that I say about myself. Over the past years God has freed me from this way of thinking. Yet, that old stinkin thinkin can find its way back inside my head. Then the junk gets piled up inside me and I cannot function as God intended. Again, this can be a simple fix, right? I just need to take care of the junk appropriately, and not just throw it into a junk drawer inside my soul somewhere.
This exercise will be something I have to ‘relearn.’ I must get rid of the junk as soon as it crosses my mind. Just because I may ‘push’ the thoughts aside does not necessarily mean it is properly taken care of. To do this I must identify what God says about me, or the situation. And usually if I take the time to do this, the junk doesn’t get piled up. Then I can move forward in the life God has intended for me to live, junk free.