Check Your Pockets

The contents of emptied pockets seem to collect on top of the dryer: coins, nails, gem clips, nuts, bolts and such. I must say I prefer those things rather than frogs and lizards of [little boy] days-gone-by! The loads of life can be heavy and burdensome at times. They tend to leave us gasping for breath and anxious for a different source of fresh air. Carrying one day's burdens into the next is definitely not a good practice; each new day seems to manufacture its own troubles. It's a terrible thing to awake with yesterday's leftovers crowding out the freshness of today. The new day should not be welcomed with dread and begun in despair. Alma Barkman writes of patching pockets: "As I mend the holes and reinforce the seams, I am reminded of all the worries, fears, anxieties and doubts we carry around from week to week without really noticing them. Suddenly the accumulated weight becomes too much, and we break under the strain. We need to develop the habit of emptying our pockets, so to speak. We must spread
out our feelings before the Lord, prayerfully sort things through, and ask Him to dispose of the trash. In so doing we will discover that we have exchanged our 'spirit of despair' for a 'garment of praise'." Oh, yes! Ecclesiastes 9:10 offers crisp instructions for each new day, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might" and then 11:10 guidance for the worried, "So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body." Oh, how we need to empty our pockets [cast off our troubles] at the end of each day -- give them to Jesus. Tossing and turning, worrying and fretting accomplishes nothing ... only hinders our effectiveness for tomorrow. As you end and begin each day ... check your pockets!