Deleting the Junk

info@greenviewchurch.co.uk – is the email address for anyone wanting to contact the church via our web site. Unfortunately this address seems to be a magnet for large amounts of junk email. Most of which have rather purile headings which I have to scan through just in case there is actually a legitmate enquiry in there. I have to confess that at one point I hadn’t checked it for several weeks only to find on opening it that over 2000 emails has accumulated. I then had the tedious and time consuming task of deleting them - 25 at a time. It took ages.

It’s amazing how relatively quickly the whole account got completely swamped and clogged up with this defiled rubbish. But it got me thinking of the daily rubbish that accumulates in my own life – both my own sin but also the defilement that external sinfulness brings to it (e.g. things seen on TV, comments overheard, other people’s bad behaviour etc). Because uncleanness in the Bible contaminates people both from internal and external sources. Unchecked that contamination can swamp us spiritually and clog up our relationship with God. Which is why we need daily cleansing or, as my old Pastor used to say, ‘to keep short accounts with God’ (i.e. don’t let sin built up in your life – cancel it out quickly and regularly). In the Old Testament such was the ‘ease’ with which you could get contaminated that sacrifices and washing rituals were readily available for quick cleansing.

Every day we need to clear out the accumulated junk in our lives by getting before God in confession and in asking 'to be every whit clean’ (Jn 13:10 AV). I’ve learnt the lesson – every day I open up that email account and delete the junk before it gets out of control.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 Jn 1:9)