One man’s trash is not hidden treasure.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

According to a 2015 study by Nature Climate Change, Americans threw out 5 pounds of solid waste, per person, per day. That’s equal to 262 million tons of food scraps, paper products and similar items.

We are good at hiding our garbage in nice containers, behind cabinet doors, and in gated areas like this one behind a restaurant in a historic neighborhood. Yet, we know the garbage is there, either because it overflows, accumulates in our living spaces or starts to stink. Our garbage cannot be truly hidden.

We also hang on to internal stuff that bogs us down—anger, hurt, hunger for power, loneliness, greed, addiction—sin.  We may spend a lot of time and effort attempting to hide our spiritual garbage, but someone always sees it. God sees it.

Yet, we can be free. Free from the painful baggage we carry every day, free from bags of stress and worry that we drag around with us, free from the sin, that stinks up our souls.

“He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.” Ephesians 1:7 New Living Translation

Christ loves us so much that He wants us to be free from our garbage. He died for us so we would be unburdened of it all!

“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.” Philippians 3:7-9 New Living Translation

You may be thinking that you know this, but it’s so easy for the trash to accumulate while living our daily lives. So today, believe in your heart that God loves you, and has chosen you! Search your heart and soul, and throw out any garbage that is overtaking your life in Him.

Copyright text and photo Desiree Bustamante