Take out the Trash

In Ron Clark’s book, “The Essential 55” there are 55 rules listed for encouraging excellence. It is a book for teachers. Rules like: Make eye contact, When you win, do not brag; when you lose, do not show anger, Do your homework every night without fail, Stand up for what you believe in. One that caught my eye as I was reading was rule number 30:

“After we eat, we will clean up after ourselves. This includes cleaning off the tables and making sure we haven’t left any trash o the floor or around the eating area. It is important to be responsible for your trash no matter where you are and to be sure not to litter.”

As I read that this morning in devotional mode, I began to wonder if I am correctly and efficiently dealing with the trash in my life. We all have trash. That Tootsie Roll wrapper that is on the floor after a meeting or that Kleenex that we laid on the night stand after using it. Neither one of those things will be used again for their intended purpose so I might just as well dispose of properly. I wonder f there are intangible things in my life that need to find their way to the trash receptacle. I find that my computer runs much faster if I clean up the files by trashing those I no longer need.

My Colossians chapter 4 verse about making the most of every opportunity becomes much more real if I have taken care of my trash along the way. Today, I am asking God to remind me of this concept every time I notice something around me that should be tossed. I think I will need to find some extra waste baskets.