ODB: Empty Me
July 16, 2011
Own up to your sin—you can’t hide it from God anyway!
READ: Ephesians 4:17-32
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. —Luke 6:45
“What a rotten design,” I grumbled, as I emptied our paper shredder. I was following good advice about shredding personal documents, but I could not empty the container without spilling strips of confetti all over the carpet! One day as I was gathering trash, I debated whether I’d even bother since it was only half-full. But when I slipped a small plastic bag over the top and flipped it upside down, I was pleased to see that not a bit of paper had fallen on the floor.
The error had been mine. I had been waiting until the container was filled to the brim before emptying it!
When we allow sin to fill up our hearts, it too will overflow into our life. Luke 6:45 says that “an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil.” It is “out of the abundance of the heart” that we speak.
What if we were to empty our hearts of the rubbish of sin before it started spilling into our interactions with others? To dispose of our bitterness, stubborn pride, seething anger? (Eph. 4:26-32). First John 1:9 reminds us that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
A paper shredder is designed to be a rubbish receptacle. You and I are not!
— Cindy Hess Kasper
Source: Our Daily Bread
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great reminder. sometimes we may think that we can hide our sins and no one knows. but God always knows. and a sinful life is not what we should lead. we really should cleanse our hearts of sin and avoid sinning again.
This teaches us to seek God’s righteousness,for our righteousness is filthy rags
Agree. Our righteousness us like filthy rags. Not sure what you do while inside toilet. For me, the Lord show me that even our ‘output’ has value. At least in the context of old way of gardening and farming. Not so with our sin. It only provoke God’s wrath against us. Indeed, it is wise to avoid sin at all cost as there is no positive value.