MIGHT YOU NEED A "GARAGE SALE" OF THE MIND?

It's that time again at my house.  We've accumulated too many items.  The house is full.  The garage is full.  And, now my little barn is full.  It's time to de-clutter.  Therefore, a Garage Sale is in the works.  Of course, we will take the money we make from de-cluttering to go buy more things in order to eventually re-clutter.

This concept caused me to wonder if we ever have a serious Garage Sale of the mind where we de-clutter in order to take in more positive and upbeat ideas of genuine faith?  Could it be that we struggle to take in new information about the Kingdom and its potential because we are trying to cram it into our "upstairs" which is already packed full?

Of course this is the case.  We tend to, I believe, forget to de-clutter our minds.  There are so many facts and callings and disturbances and "to do" lists that one can hardly walk through these rooms of our minds and hearts.  And it is God who calls us to shed the fearful thoughts (de-clutter) and absorb faithful thoughts by refilling the new space which can now concentrate on matters that....matter.

Philippians 4:4-9 is an everyday life-adjuster for me.  Before I met God, I lived counting the injuries and insults that came my way.  I did more than encounter them.  I stored them.  I keep them in the attic of my mind so that I could rehearse before others how I had been hurt, why I was distracted, and on and on my sob story could go.  But God said to de-clutter.

Now reality is that a Garage Sale needs to be held in the mind and heart.  We can shed the negative thoughts.  We can do as the Apostle said and think on the things (and people) which bring peace as is declared in the above text.  And of course, in the process, we will find that eventually our minds will need another good house-cleaning in order the store the kind of information the Spirit would prefer.

So maybe this weekend you could have your own personal Garage Sale.  Maybe you could rid yourself of negative, hurtful, frustrating thoughts in order to have the room in your mind to enjoy ideas and concepts which would be productive.

We all do it.  We all sort through the junk..and determine to keep a bit of it.  My word of encouragement for you today is to decide that while you, in all honesty, go through some pretty bad stuff, you don't have to store it.  This stuff clutters.  Clutter distracts.  Distractions discourage.

Let them go.

Rejoice in the Lord, Paul insisted.  And he repeated it...in the very same sentence!  We are made for rejoicing.  And when we follow his Philippians admonition, he insists, Let your mind dwell on these things.  So think about the things going right in your life.  Think about the encouraging colleagues; not the discouraging ones.  Ponder the neighbors who bless; not those who scowl.  Fill your minds with joy and thrill and life!

De-clutter.  Quit rummaging through injuries of the past!  Conduct a Garage Sale of your mind!  You'll be richer for it because now you will have more room to take in the matters you appreciate and find to be abundant n blessings.  Yay you!!