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Filled with the same stuff as yesterday.
Towels, underwear, pants, shorts, work clothes, socks, etc....
Every time I empty it, someone fills it back up! It's never-ending.
Isn't that the way it is when we carry around the "basket of dirty laundry" from our past? We take it to Jesus, empty it at His feet, but instead of leaving it with the One who will take care of it, we return with our empty basket back into life and allow it to fill up again with the same old stuff.
This morning as I was reading in Psalms, I came across this verse:
He says, "I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket. In your distress you called and I rescued you..." (Psalm 81:6-7a NIV)
"Their hands were set free from the basket." The God of Israel set His people's hands free from their basket of burden. The Psalmist is reminding them that God set them free from the vice of the Egyptians - their chains and their hardship - into a new relationship with Him. They were free to follow the God of their fathers, to worship Him and serve Him only.
But they chose to hold on to the basket of their past because it's what they knew. They didn't trust God with their future, so they took their baskets back to their past. Because they wouldn't let the "basket" go, God gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
Are we any different on this side of the cross? Why would we, those who have been given the gift of salvation, our freedom in Christ, choose to hold on to the heaviness of hurts, bitterness, anger, an unforgiving spirit, any sin which holds us captive, and carry it around when our hands have been set free from the basket?
Trust. We don't trust the One who gave us our freedom. It's the lack of faith to leave the basket at Jesus' feet - the Savior who hung on the cross, took our pain our sorrow, our guilt and spilled out His blood because He loves us that much. How can we not trust Him who paid our debt in full?
I carried a basket of burden around for 15 years, holding onto hurt, anger and bitterness toward someone who had hurt me. Every time I picked up that basket, it was exhausting and draining. It faded my sparkle, my joy, and Satan would score a run every time I chose to return with that basket of unforgiveness.
When I finally let go of the basket and left it at the feet of Jesus, my hands were free to praise, my heart was free to forgive, and I was free to live fully alive again in Christ. It was exhilarating. I could breathe again. My joy was back and I was moving forward and trusting Him to make me into what He had designed me to be.
Are you carrying around a basket that Jesus has already set you free from? Don't you want to have free hands? Set down that basket in front of Jesus. Let Him know you trust Him with it and that you don't want to pick it up again. Confess your sin and sorrow for holding onto it for so long and not trusting Him with your future.
Now, with a grateful heart, get up and walk away from the basket of defeat. Breathe in the freedom you have been given in Christ. Sing for joy! You are free! Free indeed!
My Pleasure,
Melanie
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