What's in your bag?

I finally got the nerve to tackle the proverbial "in box". Only my in "box" is more like piles and piles and piles all over the table. The table is needed tomorrow so alas I must put off what I have been dreading. So I sorted the junk mail and the bills and the important "papers to file." My business notes and receipts. Went through the magazines. While I was in the cleaning out and sorting mood I figured I better tackle my kid's ministry bag.

My kid's ministry bag holds all of my "important" stuff for our children's ministry. It has my record binder, the version of kids bible we use at church (in case I need to work on lessons at home,) there's curriculum in there, and mail that has to come home from church, a church directory and that's just the "basics." It also tends to collect all of those things that needed to go to church from home or from home to church.

I have the best intentions of cleaning it out when I get to church or home but somehow I tend to get busy and only see what I "need" in the bag (the record binder or the curriculum etc.) and tend to miss the stuff that needed to be cleaned out. It has been getting really heavy and since I was in a sorty/cleany kinda mood figured I better bite the bullet and do it too. (Actually I had to move it to get to one of my "piles" and couldn't believe how heavy it was.) I was amazed at what I found in there.

There was an 7 inch upholstery needle from a craft project, 3 rolls of floral tape (different project,) my missing glue glider pro (I think from the upholstery needle project,) 1 bag of buttons, 1 bag of felt flowers and pipe cleaners. All of that is typical for my bag but there was really a lot of that kinda stuff and those things can add up. The thing that surprised me the most was the rock.

Back in the beginning of May I brought a rock with me to church as part of a testimony/lesson. Now this wasn't just ANY rock, it was a larger than your fist, 5 pound rock. I had totally forgotten it was in there. Here I had been walking around with it for a month and a half not realizing it was the main reason my bag was so heavy.

The Lord used that moment to speak to my heart. How many times have I felt weighted down in my spirit. Could be some bitterness, or unforgiveness, even a character trait I have been wanting to improve on. Instead of cleaning it out right away, I've gotten busy and forgot those things were in there. Oh I've looked into my heart but I've only "grabbed the things I needed." I didn't clear out the junk that was weighing me down.

David knew what it was like to be "weighed down" but not really dealing with it when he was suppose to. The Lord actually had to send someone to David to get him to clean out those "bags" of his heart. It was was after the prophet Nathan confronted David over the whole "Bathsheba incident" that David wrote the words of the 51st Psalm.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me."~Psalms 51:10

It's so easy to get caught up with "life" and forget to deal with those little things or even the not so little ones that fill up our heart and weigh it down. Have you been feeling burdened? Is bitterness, or unforgiveness weighing you down? Is there a character trait about yourself you have been wanting to work on because you know it isn't a good reflection of who God is in you? Take some time today to find out what's in the bag of your heart. Find out what's weighing you down. Then ask the Lord to help you clean it out!

"Restore unto me the joy of my salvation, and renew a right spirit within me" ~Psalm 51:12