What are you lugging around?

I was just about to run into the doctor’s office with my son, but there was something I needed to do first. I zipped open my purse, peeked in, and sighed. What was all this junk doing in here? Yes, the necessities were there — my wallet, a pen, notebook, lipstick, checkbook. But then there was the extraneous stuff that was just making my purse bulkier, heavier, and more difficult to lug around.

I took out the receipts that I should have filed the other day. I removed the book that I had been carrying around just in case I had a moment. A pacifier, another notebook, an empty mint container… I just kept taking things out and plopping them down on the passenger seat.

Finally I zipped it back up. There, that was better. My purse was now able to fulfill its true purpose — carrying the things I needed for today, making my life easier instead of harder.

Unfortunately, my purse isn’t the only place I carry around things that should be tossed. If I take a peek inside my heart, it’s obvious that I could stand to do a little cleaning-out in there, too. There are a number of things making my heart heavier, unwieldy, more difficult to carry around:

• The unconfessed sin that I should have dealt with the other day
• The false, self-imposed guilt that I keep with me, just in case I have a minute to berate myself again
• The fears, the worries, the selfish ambitions
• …and I could go on

I need to deal with each of these things, and leave my heart free to fulfill its true purpose — seeking, depending on, and glorifying the Lord. It’s hard to do that when my heart is cluttered with things that shouldn’t be there.

The Bible tells us that keeping our hearts well-maintained and clutter-free is critical. Proverbs 4:23 says:

Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.

It’s easy to allow our hearts to overflow with the things that don’t belong there, the things that weigh us down and distract us from following Christ. But we must regularly make time to take a look at what we’re carrying around, and to toss (and deal with!) the junk.

How about you? What are you carrying around today that you need to either deal with or leave at the feet of Jesus? He wants your heart to be lighter, more free, and able to focus fully on him. Let’s do a little spring cleaning - starting on the inside.