Out With The Old; In With The New

I felt a tinge of anxiety sitting on my patio when the garbage truck showed up. I’m not a hoarder or even a pack rat, but I admit I have trouble throwing some things away. I tend to think, “But what if I end up needing this?” I often end up keeping things that I can’t find when I do need them, because I keep too many things that I rarely use.

This time, it was a piece of equipment that was still working, but it was old technology — dated and no longer usable. Still, I had trouble throwing it in the garbage. I also threw away some other parts to items that were optional, and I had elected not to use. As I was throwing them out, I thought, “What if I change my mind and want to use these?”

But they weren’t really gone yet. They were in the garbage container at the curb. That’s why I felt anxiety when the garbage truck showed up. Then…they were gone for good.

I wonder if that’s part of the reason we struggle with our sanctification. The act of getting rid of old habits, old familiar ways of living. It’s unsettling. “What now? Making these changes…I won’t ever be able to go back.”

It’s also a beautiful thing about sanctification. It’s not just getting rid of the garbage in our lives. It is replacement.

In Ephesians 4, Paul makes it really practical. He tells the thief to replace his thievery with hard work and generosity. He tells the liar to replace his lies by telling the truth in the context of love. He tells us to replace our critical words with encouraging words. He says to replace anger with forgiveness.

In each of these growth steps, Paul instructs us to replace our sin with its opposite. Truth is the opposite of lies. Generosity is the opposite of stealing. Encouragement is the opposite of criticism. Forgiveness is the opposite of anger.

Life change is hard. Getting rid of the old way of living is uncomfortable. But God says, “Don’t just get rid of things; replace them.” And then He reassures us that we don’t have to do this by ourselves. He sent His Holy Spirit to us to help us clean house and then redecorate while we’re at it.

It’s a lifelong process. I’ve been on the sanctification journey for 47 years…and there’s still plenty of refuse to get rid of and good things to replace with.

It’s funny. After feeling uneasy while the garbage truck pulled away, I saw the Amazon truck pull in right behind it. The old junk was gone, and now a few new, better things were on my doorstep.

That’s what God has in store for you!