Energy Deficient?

Energy deficient?

     Last summer my mother had the laugh of her life.  I was cleaning out my purse on the large bench in front of the picture window which displays the beautiful mountains.  I had a "few" things spread out…..receipts, many pens, trash, my wallet, make up, comb, checkbook, camera, phone, calculator,  etc.  She walked into the living room and approached the bench.  "What are you doing?"  she asked.  A little surprised at the question, I thought it was quite obvious what I was doing.  "Well, I'm cleaning out my

purse," I answered, only slightly insulted.    She began to chuckle, "You had all THAT in your purse?"  And then she laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed; I never thought she would quit.

     The other day I picked up my purse and felt a very sharp pain in my shoulder.  The pain wouldn't go away so  I took four ibuprofen, which failed to do the intended job.    I went to bed with that terrible pain, then I started pondering my sloppy tendencies.    Why do I try to carry so much in my purse?  Why don't I just keep it cleaned out?   I've got to stop doing that.…..But guess what?  We all carry stuff that we don't need  that weighs us down, and sometimes brings us excruciating pain we could have avoided if we would have taken the time to clean up our lives.    What do we carry?  Garbage like bitterness, pride, resentment, malice, grudges, envy, jealousy, you can probably name your stuff…Does God want us to be weighed down like this?   Are they robbing our energy?   Just think of all we could accomplish if we were lighter on our feet!   I think we both know the answer. 

 Col. 3:5, 8  "Put to death whatever belongs to the earthly nature:  sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.   "But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips."

     Now I take a smaller purse and carry only what I need in it….what a novel idea!  Col. 3:12-14  "Therefore as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  Bear with each other, and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."  That, my friends, is an energy boosting formula!