Episode #32 - Just Throw It Away

I had a study with a friend today who went through some old DVD's of his and realized many of them were one's he had purchased before he became a Christian. They did not have the kind of content that he knew a Christian should watch, so he asked what he should do with them? Easy - simply throw them away. Well...anything that keeps us from growing closer to Jesus needs to very simply be thrown away. In fact, we ought to think like Paul, and consider those things as good as garbage in comparison to knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. 

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Transcript

Welcome to the Set Your Mind Above podcast, where every day, ordinary events teach us extraordinary eternal truths! I am your host BJ Sipe, and I’m so glad you’ve tuned in today! I am excited to share my life & my faith with you, and I sure hope you’ll do the same with me along the way.

Fridays are some of my favorite days, not just because it is the start of a weekend, but because of the regular studies that I have on them. Every Friday morning at 8:30 a group of men from the church all get together and open up our Bibles at one of the local coffee shops. It’s the best way to start my day. Then, every Friday at 10:30, I get together with my good friend Randy Brock to study the Bible also. We visit, sometimes grab lunch, and of course spend quite a bit of time in the Word – currently we are going through the book of Acts. Randy is a new Christian of only a year, so regularly when we get together he has excellent questions to ask that we discuss pertaining to life, faith, etc. Well today, he said, “Hey, I’ve got a question for you. I’ve got a bunch of old movies and DVD’s that I owned before I was a Christian, and I hadn’t even looked at them until the other day. Well a lot of them are ones that I don’t want to own any longer, they just have all kinds of junk in them I don’t want to watch anymore. I don’t want to give them away to someone else, because they shouldn’t be watching them either, so what should I do with them?” “Well, there’s only one thing to do with them,” I replied, “It’s the same thing that I did many years ago too. Grab a trash bag, fill it up, and just throw them away.” We laughed together as he asked if that was allowed, and I said of course it’s allowed, it’s your stuff, but some people might find you crazy for doing it. But from our perspective and where we are sitting, you’d be crazy not to. Movies that are full of garbage, be it sex, profanity, coarse jesting, or any other kind of sin that is glorified have no place in the life of a Christian. As we’ve talked about in the past weeks, what we put into our minds has a direct effect on our actions and the things that we come to think or feel. If I take joy and find that which is fleshly and sinful entertaining, then that is a reflection of a heart that is not truly yet given over to Christ. I’m thankful for hearts like Randy that continue to encourage me to look into my life and ask the question: what is it that I need to throw away? 

Honestly the answer to that question is anything that hinders our growth in Jesus Christ. Let’s consider two passages together today. The first teaches us to think differently about the things that perhaps we once loved or valued before we came to Christ, and that is in Philippians 3:7-11, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” Paul had a good, comfortable life before he became the apostle that we know and love. He was respected, well educated, and comfortable. But Paul found something of even greater value, something that would transform him from a persecutor of the church to an apostle of the church – he witnessed the power of the resurrection when Jesus appeared to him. As a result, Paul left everything to follow Christ that he too might know him & by any means necessary attain the resurrection of the dead. But I want you to key in on Paul’s mindset – everything that he left behind he refers to as rubbish. That is literally refuse, garbage, or a pile of dung. Leaving behind what belonged to the flesh starts with changing our perception about those things. We no longer desire them, value them, or need them. If they keep us from Jesus, or hinder us in our walk, they’re only good to be thrown away because they’re as good as garbage. Consider the words of the Hebrew writer in chapter 12 concerning this matter, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Companies that develop tech for athletes go to all kinds of extremes to ensure that their gear is as light as possible, every ounce matters. Any extra weight can make the slightest fraction of a difference in a race, so you get rid of it all. Do we have that same level of extreme, radical behavior when it comes to our spiritual race? Do we make every effort to cast off anything and everything that would prevent us from running the way we should in Christ Jesus? Or do we still carry dead weight from things we should have thrown away, sometimes literally, along time ago? Nothing, and I mean nothing, is worth holding onto if it keeps you from drawing near to Jesus. Let it go, and free of those burdens take one more step forward in your walk with God. 

Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. Tune in, Tuesday-Fridays, as a new podcast episode will be uploaded each day. Also, be sure to follow the Facebook page for the Set Your Mind Above podcast for future announcements and weekly video sessions that are uploaded on Saturdays. As you have the opportunity, share these thoughts with your friends and family, and share with me what important lessons you are learning from every day, ordinary events. Until next time know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above!