Purge!
You provide the fire. I’ll provide the sacrifice.
You provide the Spirit. I’ll open up inside.
Fill me up God. Fill me up God. FILL ME UP GOD. Fill me up.
“Fill Me Up” by Jesus Culture
I have to admit I'm a big fan of shopping in general and I always love shopping at Target! Maybe it's because no matter what we are going there to buy, my mom and I can manage to fill our carts every single time! We aren't the type to just run into Target grab one thing, and run out. We have a routine down. We have to peruse the aisles, see what's new, and check out the sale items! We can spend hours filling our carts with things we really don't need.
Perhaps the fact that we fill our carts with all the little random junk we don't need isn't a good habit. But what we have become very fond of over our years of becoming experienced shoppers, is the purging we do right before we hit the check out line. You see, in this process we go through our cart full of stuff and weed out the things we need and the stuff we do not. We find that most of the junk we have collected over the two hours we've spent walking down aisles aimlessly just looked pretty or fun or necessary, but all of it is stuff we really don't need! We do this with all the items until we've whittled out the few things we absolutely can't leave without. That's part of the fun of our shopping trips I think, we can shop with out exactly buying. And as we empty the cart there's a sense of accomplishment. We quickly narrow our ten items down to four or three or maybe even just the one item we came there for in the first place. We let go of the mediocre items or what's frilly and make our purchase based on our actual needs.
I think we have to purge, the same way my mom and I do at Target, in our lives. And now is the best and most powerful time of purging. It's Lent. Our lives are full of stuff. We have obligations and obsessions. Most of us are being pulled in a million directions. Sometimes in the midst of all our busy moments and our piles of stuff we can loose sight of God. But as we prepare for the Resurrection, we are given the opportunity to let go of some of those things. We are given the chance to give up bad habits, or a fulfillment we get from food, or time we use for meaningless activities. We empty those things from our cart. We let go of all those things that are blocking us from seeing the item at the bottom of the pile that we were really seeking in the first place! We are lucky, like a shopping trip to Target we do not have to make the final purchase on those things that our filling our carts and tying us down, we still have chance to put them back on the shelf and remove them from our lives!
The "stuff" hides our sins. The "stuff" draws us away from God as we use it, instead of Him, to fill our needs. The "stuff" clouds our ability to see the love of a God who gave His son to die for us on a cross. Now is our chance to let go of that "stuff".
So many times Lent is compared to the time Jesus spent in the desert being tempted by the devil. And our preparation is in so many ways so much like that time. We are being tempted to pick back up those things we've let go of as a part of our Lenten sacrifice. But what I think people fail to realize is the beauty of our time in the desert. When everything is stripped away and all that's sitting in the bottom of your cart is that one bottle of tooth paste you came for, you come to truly appreciate everything good about that bottle. You might notice the colors, or the fancy letters, or the fact that its labeled minty fresh. Likewise, when we let go of our "stuff" we are left with only the beauty of God. We are able to notice the small joys He fills our lives with and what He does to sustain us! The time in the desert might be trying, but I believe that beyond that it's a blessing and a true chance for us to rediscover our loving God. It might be a challenge and at times we might wish we had that "stuff" to make things easier. But we don't need it! Let go of the stuff that is covering Him and He will sustain you in the desert and beyond. Empty your cart so that He alone can fill you up!
You provide the Spirit. I’ll open up inside.
Fill me up God. Fill me up God. FILL ME UP GOD. Fill me up.
“Fill Me Up” by Jesus Culture
I have to admit I'm a big fan of shopping in general and I always love shopping at Target! Maybe it's because no matter what we are going there to buy, my mom and I can manage to fill our carts every single time! We aren't the type to just run into Target grab one thing, and run out. We have a routine down. We have to peruse the aisles, see what's new, and check out the sale items! We can spend hours filling our carts with things we really don't need.
Perhaps the fact that we fill our carts with all the little random junk we don't need isn't a good habit. But what we have become very fond of over our years of becoming experienced shoppers, is the purging we do right before we hit the check out line. You see, in this process we go through our cart full of stuff and weed out the things we need and the stuff we do not. We find that most of the junk we have collected over the two hours we've spent walking down aisles aimlessly just looked pretty or fun or necessary, but all of it is stuff we really don't need! We do this with all the items until we've whittled out the few things we absolutely can't leave without. That's part of the fun of our shopping trips I think, we can shop with out exactly buying. And as we empty the cart there's a sense of accomplishment. We quickly narrow our ten items down to four or three or maybe even just the one item we came there for in the first place. We let go of the mediocre items or what's frilly and make our purchase based on our actual needs.
I think we have to purge, the same way my mom and I do at Target, in our lives. And now is the best and most powerful time of purging. It's Lent. Our lives are full of stuff. We have obligations and obsessions. Most of us are being pulled in a million directions. Sometimes in the midst of all our busy moments and our piles of stuff we can loose sight of God. But as we prepare for the Resurrection, we are given the opportunity to let go of some of those things. We are given the chance to give up bad habits, or a fulfillment we get from food, or time we use for meaningless activities. We empty those things from our cart. We let go of all those things that are blocking us from seeing the item at the bottom of the pile that we were really seeking in the first place! We are lucky, like a shopping trip to Target we do not have to make the final purchase on those things that our filling our carts and tying us down, we still have chance to put them back on the shelf and remove them from our lives!
The "stuff" hides our sins. The "stuff" draws us away from God as we use it, instead of Him, to fill our needs. The "stuff" clouds our ability to see the love of a God who gave His son to die for us on a cross. Now is our chance to let go of that "stuff".
So many times Lent is compared to the time Jesus spent in the desert being tempted by the devil. And our preparation is in so many ways so much like that time. We are being tempted to pick back up those things we've let go of as a part of our Lenten sacrifice. But what I think people fail to realize is the beauty of our time in the desert. When everything is stripped away and all that's sitting in the bottom of your cart is that one bottle of tooth paste you came for, you come to truly appreciate everything good about that bottle. You might notice the colors, or the fancy letters, or the fact that its labeled minty fresh. Likewise, when we let go of our "stuff" we are left with only the beauty of God. We are able to notice the small joys He fills our lives with and what He does to sustain us! The time in the desert might be trying, but I believe that beyond that it's a blessing and a true chance for us to rediscover our loving God. It might be a challenge and at times we might wish we had that "stuff" to make things easier. But we don't need it! Let go of the stuff that is covering Him and He will sustain you in the desert and beyond. Empty your cart so that He alone can fill you up!
Comments
Post a Comment