Starve It part 5
I know this isn't what Jesus was necessarily saying with His proverb about the seed being sown, but look at Matthew 13:5-6, "Some fell upon stony placed, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away." Jesus was kind of illustrating how important it is to HAVE roots... to HAVE deepness of earth. But I want to look at it from another point of view. I want to end this Rant series by saying don't GIVE things roots or deepness of earth. Don't let things get ahold of you that really don't matter. Or don't belong. Once, many many moons ago, I preached a sermon about how when you move from one house to another you don't always have enough room for all of the stuff you've accumulated. Some stuff, quite frankly--even if it served its purpose for a time, at the time--doesn't fit anymore. We outgrow things. We move past things. And we can leave them behind. Look at Hebrews 12:1, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." Stop fighting. The only fight we're supposed to fight is the good fight of faith--laying hold of eternal life. Receiving the gift we've been given by releasing it. Sharing it. Giving it away. But here's my point: You don't have to let everything that happens get a hook in you. Some stuff you can just lay aside. Just don't give it a chance to grow. Let it wither. Again, you don't have to fight it. You can just let it go. Don't give it your three T's (time, talent, treasure). Don't give things that don't have any power, power. Don't let things get into you, even if you have to go through things. We all have to go through things. That's life, man. And life happens every day. What you feed is what grows. So what you lay aside will starve. It will wither away. You don't have to fight against things. You can simply let them go. Let go and let God, as they say. Cast your cares on Him, for He cares for you. Let God take care of it. Focus on the good things (the GOD things... the love things) in life. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. When Jesus is holding you up, nothing can drag you down. When LOVE is holding you up. So fill yourself with that love, and let it flow out of you. Fill yourself with what you've already been filled with. Don't leave room for anything else. Love is a feast that you share. And you are what you eat. So chow down on love. And let the rest of it starve!