Valerie has been getting on to me about cleaning out my closet at home. Like most guys, I still believe I can fit into my High School letter jacket or my team jersey from back in the day! Sadly, the reality is starting to sink in for me that those days may actually be gone. The good news is I’ve started cleaning out my closet and I plan to donate those things I can no longer use to someone who can!
But you know, it got me to thinking about the need that we all have to get rid of some things that we've hung onto for so long. I’m not just talking about clothes in the closet; it’s an experience that God wants all of us to have as we surrender our life to Jesus Christ. We can spiritually unload all the burdens we’ve been hanging on to for so long.
In II Corinthians 5:17 the apostle Paul says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
All the stuff that you've hung onto so long – this includes all the guilt, the shame, the regrets of what you wish you had done differently; all the disappointments and hurts of life. Jesus took all that on Himself when He died on the cross for you and me. The good news today is that you don’t have to hang on to these things anymore! Jesus is waiting to take those burdens away from you the moment that you put your total trust in Him as Savior and Lord by obeying the gospel.
It’s a great feeling to get rid of all the unnecessary things that take up space in the closet. But it’s even better to know that because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we don't have to hang on to the past any longer. You can get rid of all of the things of the past at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ!
