Digging for Joy!

There was a well-thought-out purpose for the big box behind my office door.  It was a catchall for gym shorts, t-shirts, duffle bags, tennis shoes, etc. that were left behind by students (including my own two boys).  I often found myself [and others] stumbling over the items, not to mention how my office was beginning to resemble a gym locker room!

 

The heart of man gathers lots of junk.  It started early too; Genesis 6:5 says, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."  That came as no surprise to God -- what He knew beforehand was soon realized in His most precious creation.  According to Psalm 40:12, the sinfulness of our hearts are more numerous than the hairs of our head. Now, that's a lot even if your hair is growing thin!  Consider all the junk we take in with our eyes and ears -- it breeds corruption.  The beauty of Christ in our lives gets ambushed and soon the ugly takes over.  Guess what I found buried at the bottom of that box one day: a textbook we thought was lost.  When we see the heart for what it is -- desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), God forgives and makes beautiful what was once ugly.  Digging and uncovering Christ overtaken by the decay of sin in our hearts brings back His Joy and Beauty to our lives.  I encourage you to go ahead and do a little digging of your own.  The results are ... joyful!