junk

With the industry I am in, and more specifically, within my company, "your" desk is never your desk.

I work on a specific project for a certain period of time, after the process is done, I move on to a new project. But since all our project are done for different competing clients, everyone has to sit in the area designated for the project. So when I say I "move on" to a different project, I mean that I literally box up all my stuff and submit a "Relocation Request" and all my stuff gets moved to a new cube, on a new floor, of a new building.

Well, it's time for me to move again. My project (or least my part on this project) has come to an end and it is time to pack up and move. I'll start a new project next week, but for now, I just have to pack. And don't get me wrong, packing will not take too much time, but as I begin this process I realize how much junk I have. I am walking back and forth to the recycling bin throwing out so much paper that I have saved over the past few months. I have way more pens and highlighters than when I started this project. And most of the stuff I've
accumulated are not needed.

It's weird to think about how this stuff just compiled. I didn't mean to save up a bunch of papers only to be recycled in a few months. I didn't realize that I was collecting writing utensils. But I have. And (ready for the spiritual parallel?) I believe that it is the same way that sin grows in our lives, my life. I have never woken up and said to myself "Today let's gossip!" That would be absurd and I would smack myself. But gossip happens slowly. I have never thought, "Let's lust!" But it slowly accumulates, a glace here, a look there, then a stare, then a stray thought. Sin isn't bad because it hits like a bomb. But it creeps in and slowly grows. It builds on itself. It is junk.

But the Good News is that Christ Jesus has defeated sin. He has died to the effects of sin and risen victoriously over it. And that life is promised for us. I'm not saying that I will never sin again because I have been baptized in Jesus' name. But what I am saying is that in him, sin isn't our master, God is. We don't have to allow sin to grow and to accumulate like the junk in my cube. God is there to clean us up. To heal us. And to give us true life.

If you have junk in your life, you don't need to explain where it came from (although knowing may help prevent it in the future), but you need to go to God and have him clean you up. Don't try to do it yourself, I'll tell you right now, it's useless. Only God has conquered sin. Only in him is there freedom.

amen

Give reason

Peter tells us in his first letter: "but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect"
(1 Peter 3:15)

I always used to read this verse and say "I got this! I have written out my testimony and practiced it dozens of times!" Which is true, I have practiced dozens of times. I've even practiced with long testimonies over coffee that took an hour or more. I've practiced with a five sentence testimony, which is exactly what it sounds like. This isn't to show off or anything, it's just fact. I have taken this verse to heart and prepared myself.

I am prepared to give reason for my faith...

Well the other day I was hit with something that I wasn't prepared for. I was talking with a co-worker and she noticed that I had a blog up. She asked what blogs I follow and as I started listing a few, I realized that they were all "Christian" blogs. So I told her that it's a bunch of Christian blogs that she wouldn't have heard of.

So she asked me "Why are you a Christian?"

(Cue testimony). Right???
Wrong.

"Well, I was raised going to church and when I got to college I guess I just started getting a little more serious in my faith."

That's not my testimony. I never practiced that. And honestly, in the moment, I wasn't even thinking about sharing my testimony. I didn't realize she was asking for it. I just wanted to take the subject off Christ as quickly as I could.

When I read this verse before I always expected the non-believer to come to me and say "What is your testimony about how you were saved?" Now I realize that that isn't going to happen. That this girl sincerely asked me for a reason for my hope and I shut it down. She was looking for a real reason to hope and now she is still searching.

I am not beating myself up about this, thinking that I ruined all hope of her ever being saved. But I am using this as 1) an opportunity to warn other about waiting for the word "testimony" to share their faith. and 2) to learn about myself and how I react to others talking about and challenging my faith in the office. I never expected or planned on being the guy who kept his faith in Jesus private from everyone else. And I don't plan on staying on this path of being ashamed of the gospel. If you wanted to pray for me, you can pray that I would stand strong on the power of the gospel.