Junk

Someone Reading Mike Wells Comments.............

Many people today call it clutter.  Michael has called it junk.  It is all the same thing…pitiful.  And yet we cling to the stuff…or, it…or, that…or, them.  You know what I am saying.  Anyhow, Michael gives us a great take on what we need to do with…

Junk

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ.--Philippians 3:8

One day I noticed a little old man living by a river in a shack so absolutely full of old junk that there was barely any room left for him; therefore, it was understandable that he spent his days outside the house just sitting and protecting the place, though what he owned was utterly worthless. I thought about what a blessing a flood would be for this fellow.He would, for sure, see it as a great tragedy, but I think not, for in a flood he could escape, and yet his stuff would be lost, washed downstream. Life would begin anew, and hopefully he would see that the value of his life was greater than the sum of all the junk with which he had surrounded himself. Each week I see believers that have been caught in some type of “flood”; all that was held dear has been swept away, expectations have given way to a sad reality, and they are initially devastated. All they see is the death, but I see death as a prelude to life, the removal of unnecessary junk that hinders our focus on Christ. Remember, the proof that Jesus presented to the disciples of His resurrection was that He bore the marks of death. Without death there is no life. The wisest thing to do on the cross is rest, for struggle only prolongs the misery. Rest during, in, and after the flood. All that is rubbish is being washed away for one thing, to reveal His life. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”(Romans 8:35) 

In the town I grew up in, there was a junk place called Jack Heard’s.  Jack had anything and everything someone might be looking for to replace something that was broken or a part of something that was missing.  It was so “junky” that folks would say when things got like that at home, or at work: “it’s beginning to look like Jack Heard’s around here.”  Of course, no one went there very many times…just very rarely.  Which leads me to think of all the JUNK that I allow into my life (items, activities, endeavors, etc.) that lie around taking up space and hindering an uncomplicated life.  I don’t “go there” very often, but have to “deal” with them virtually every day.

And then I read the last ¾’s of Michael’s writing…wow!  What a blessing a “flood” would be if I would just “turn on the faucet” to wash away all which hinders or prevents me from focusing on Christ.  How come I allow life to take me away from LIFE???

So, as I begin 2016, I am looking at asking some probing questions that I am thinking will take me to more revelation of the LIFE of Christ.  Are there any such questions you could ask yourself? 

I am asking myself what progress I have made the past week, and what steps will I need to take this week?  And although I can’t think of any right now, some may need to ask what fears they need to walk straight into to make progress this week.

Well, amen.