What's Your Junk?

I read a verse this morning.
Or, a passage more specifically. Luke 11:37-53 — It’s about the six woes that Jesus pronounces on the Pharisees.
The verses that stuck out to me were vs. 39-41: “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.’”When reading this verse, it is first important to take in the historical context at the time. I can’t help but apply this passage to my own life, though. Our lives are just like a cup. Jesus set up the perfect analogy for us. Although we may clean the outside and make it look like we have everything together with our job, our family, our friends, our money, and our relationship with Jesus Christ, many times we are still broken and hiding things on the inside.
The inside is disgusting, but no one sees it from the walls we create to shelter them from the truth. We don’t want them to see our secret side; our lies and weaknesses that pull us further away from the Lord.
For me, I’m definitely not clean on the inside. And I don’t think anyone is. As Romans 3:23 says, “…for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God…” We all have goop inside that hinders us from becoming one with Christ.
But hey, guess what? God is a God of grace. He LOVES us, and pours down his mercies upon us even when we walk in darkness! He doesn’t care how far we’ve fallen from him. Though we walk in the valley of death, the Lord is always there to pick us up and let us start fresh again in our relationship with Him! :-)
Isaiah 1:18 says, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be washed as white as snow…” Hey, that’s something to rejoice about! The Lord is our Redeemer and Savior.
Reflecting on what I just said, I look at my own life. I look at the things I’m hiding inside from everyone else. I look at my prayer life. Although others have commented on how strong of a prayer life I have with the Lord, honestly, it’s hardly there. Prayer is one of my weaknesses. I confess that.
But the Lord has definitely been working on that this year with me. During Encounter (an evangelistic outreach ministry at my college), God laid on my heart to stay back for prayer. I was like, “What God? Are you serious?” But, out of a listening heart, I stayed back. And whoa, did God totally blow my mind! He set a flame in my heart for prayer!Ever since them, I’ve been working little by little to keep feeding that flame. I’m on Ninedays Prayer Team at my school, and God has also presented me with awesome opportunities to pray. Guess what those are? My 40-minute drives to work. Everyone thinks I’m crazy for driving that far out to work, but honestly, I don’t care! I get a chunk of time to praise the Lord and be steadfast in prayer. A time of silence where I have no other distractions. It’s AWESOME. :-)
So that’s one of my confessions. I don’t have it all together. But even though I’m still a broken and wretched human being, I still belong to the Lord and I want to glorify Him in everything I do. I think it’s the passion and drive that matters. The Lord loves a heart that is on fire for Him!
Now I challenge you to look at your cup. The inside of the cup. What are you keeping there that no one else sees? What do you need to surrender to the Lord and let him take control of in your life? Don’t be afraid. The Lord is a God of mercy and compassion, and He will always, ALWAYS accept you and love you as His child.