“Many also of those who had believed, kept coming , confessing and disclosing their practices…(and many) brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of all.” (Acts 19:18-19a NASB)

 Several years ago during high school camp at Harlow, a young pastor challenged the teenagers about “their music.”  He asked, “Is it edifying, conveying a godly message?  Would you let Jesus listen to it”  Or does it cause you to fall into temptation with ungodly words and suggestions?”  After campfire that night one teen went immediately to his cabin and returning with an armload of CD”S asked the camp pastor to take them and give them away.  The pastor responded, “I could NEVER give these away and cause someone else to stumble. These are only good for the fire.”  So that night they tossed them in the campfire pit.  To everyone’s amazement others followed his example and literally hundreds of dollars of CD”S went up in smoke.

Someone once said, “It is all too true that many of us hate our sins, but cannot leave them.”  I am humbled by the acts of the Jewish exorcists and these teenagers who decided to permanently remove their sin from their lives, and to do it in the “sight of all.”  I recognize times in my life when I could have set my own five alarm fire with the rubbish I had gathered, with the sins I could not leave.  I am thankful for the times I have chosen to toss them in the fire and rid myself of them permanently.

Lord, help me to be quick to recognize the “trash” that comes my way and send it immediately to the fire pit.  I do not want to hold on to anything that separates me from you.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 30th, 2006 at 5:44 am and is filed under Daily Readings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.