Trash

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure… so the saying goes. Maybe another way of stating that principle is to say that trash is a state of mind. The apostle Paul tells the church in Philippi that the pedigree that he once took such great pride in he now considered trash (Philippians 3:7-9). In the process of moving from Sacramento to the Oregon Coast we discovered how much trash we had that well, quite frankly we thought at one time was invaluable treasure. This is not just a matter of how quickly things become outdated (the computer that I’m writing this article with has more memory in RAM than my first computer had on its hard drive)… but is also the product of our capricious nature. That is, we are not about to bring out our bell bottom jeans… well, unless they come back into fashion like our skinny jeans did. And if Justin Bieber thinks he is the first heartthrob with bangs… he can trash that idea.
So, is there some spiritual principle that we can salvage from this collective trash pile of our cluttered lives? It starts with a reminder that we will always treasure something. Jesus sermon on the mounts, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21).” So when we speak of treasure we are identifying what fills our hearts, our minds, and our imaginations. Do you ever watch “Antique Road Show”? I love when someone brings in Aunt Betty’s old doodad that she left them and they find out that at auction it could be worth as much as their house! They choke on their own air and then sputter with wide eyes of disbelief insisting they had no idea and that’s wonderful but they thought it was priceless anyhow because it always reminds them of fond visits to Aunt Betty’s house in the summer. And in unison we all think… “Sure it is. As soon as the cameras are turned off you’re headed to the nearest antique auction you can find!” But wait a minute… maybe this is the spiritual principle.
Value is not in the price tag. Did any of you see your kids or grandkids playing with the boxes your expensive Christmas gift came in? Value is in the affection, or the importance of the beauty that we perceive in what’s before us. Did you ever wonder why the story of the prodigal son begins with what seems like a couple of flakes who spend their time looking for one thing when they have 99 other sheep and 9 other coins? Answer is… treasure. They treasure what is lost and will do what it takes to recover what they value! That’s important for us because it means that even when we get lost and go into “a distant country” God pursues our hearts! O, he doesn’t go after us like mom did and drags us back by our ear… He lets sin scare us with it darkness and drive us to long for His light. How surprising it is to find that God treasures us! How important it is for us to never trash that relationship! And how rich are our lives to be in the grace of God! –DAN