Take Out the Trash

We have trash cans to hold trash bags that enable us to "take out the trash," and that trash is made up of stuff we can no longer eat, or dust from the vacuum cleaner, or just about any other bit of refuse that we want to get rid of completely. Paul wrote the following to the church in Rome in Romans 6:⁵ Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. ⁶ We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. We are called to walk out of that old life and live in the new life where the Spirit leads us, and the natural man is gone, and the old trashy life is changed to a new life in Jesus. The natural man "or person" is no longer of use to us, just like the stuff we throw in the trash can, and the next move is to gather it all up and remove it from stinking up our witness.

The church at Ephesus had some people who had to make some very important changes to their lives and quit following the silver idols they had followed so long and begin to follow the Holy Spirit. All in all, they were apparently having to deal with major peer pressure from idol following lost people who were causing them to doubt their faith. Paul wrote the following words to remind them who they are and what that looks like. Ephesians 4:²¹ Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, ²² throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. ²³ Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. ²⁴ Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. Paul said to "throw off the old nature" and let the change in your life grow and become stronger. In other words, "take out the trash," with the trash being the old life before Christ. Paul also wrote about what happens when we are born again in 2 Corinthians 5: ¹⁷ This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has begun!!

Walk out of that old way of living and thinking and walk "into the light" of Jesus^, and you will see life in a whole different way, and it will be the "best life ever!" 1 John 1:⁵ This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. ⁶ So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. ⁷ But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. Take out the Trash of the world and put it in a new trash bag, and Jesus will gather up all the trashy things and replace them all with a better way.

The Pilgrimage Continues,

David Warren