Bad Trash Day

Every Tuesday is trash day for our neighborhood, so on Tuesday mornings I go through the house, empty the trash cans, and take the trash outside. Most of the time this chore is easily done and I’m off to work, but every so often I have a problem that comes along like it did this week.

I was in the process of loading up a lot of stuff in my car and only had a few items left. I knew I could carry them along with the trash from the kitchen and be off to the office. I pulled the bag out of the trash can, walked to our kitchen counter where I had a couple of things to pick up, then went to our family room to get my computer bag. When I turned around I saw a trail of milk that had been dripping from the bag. It was not a slow drip, and I knew I had to get the trash out of the house, so I ran out the back door. After I separated the trash I went back into the house to assess the damage.

I could see that our floors needed to be cleaned up, so I got paper towels and wiped up all the milk. After that was finished I proceeded to mop the floors so they wouldn’t be sticky. Even though it was only a small amount of milk, it left a nice big mess that I had to deal with.

That is kind of what it is like in my life when I’m aware of things that need to be removed or fixed but just keep on ignoring them. Even though many of them may seem small, if they remain in place they can create a lot of messes for me. I know that I’m not perfect, but I am doing my best to become more like Jesus Christ each day. He is the example that I want to follow, but ignoring even the smallest of things that are not right in my life can quickly leave me being an example of what a disciple of Christ is not supposed to be. Just as I stopped and cleaned up the spilled milk in my house, I need to stop and clean up the issues in my life that can harm my journey with Christ.