Cleaning the Trash

Luke 11:39 NLT

“Then the Lord said to him, "You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are still filthy -- full of greed and wickedness!”

I watched someone clean their trash the other day. They rinsed everything off and even washed some of the things before they through them in the trash can. I asked why they felt the need to do this, afterall, we do live in the desert and for all I knew, maybe they were afraid of ants or other bugs who like trash. But, the answer I received was something that I didn’t expect. The reply was “Because the trash is dirty and I need to make it clean when I throw it away.”

It got me thinking about how so many times, before I became a Christian, I would try and “clean my trash” before I threw it away, placing the blame on other people for the problems and events that had taken place, finding other people who would support my actions and make it seem like the choices I were making were ok. But, the truth is, my trash was trash.. no matter how much I tried to clean it, it still ended up in the same place: The garbage can.

Hebrews 10:22 says “let us go right into the presence of God, with true hearts fully trusting him. For our evil consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”

When I became a Christian, God took all the trash, threw it away and filled me with the Holy Spirit. I do my best not to allow the trash to get back in, but there are times it does. But now, when God cleans me, the trash disappears. He makes me whole and he fills me with comfort and peace and all sorts of amazing things. We have all been made clean through the blood of Christ!!! There is no trash to dirty for God to cleanse. We can face the world with our heads held high, knowing that we are one with Christ!!!