Casandra Martin

My daughter moved last week. She is starting a new job, excited to be beginning a new adventure in a new place. Getting her stuff here was its own sort of adventure. The opportunity for her move sprang up rather quickly. She only had a few days to sort through her belongings, deciding what was coming with her and what she needed to leave behind. She starting sorting, bags and stacks piling up around her. She recycled, donated, and tossed what wouldn’t belong in her new space. She called, utterly amazed at the amount of stuff that would not be coming with her. It is stunning how quickly we accumulate the unnecessary and hold onto the outdated. She finally narrowed it down to the basics, loaded it with the movers, and vowed never to accumulate such an overwhelming amount of stuff again.

Perhaps the words of the wisdom writer speak as much to our hearts as to our bulging closets. “…a time to keep, and a time to cast away;” – Ecclesiastes 3:6b

Here I believe that God encourages us to take a little time every day to go through our hearts, tossing the junk, removing the unhealthy, and cherishing the treasures. Too much heart junk makes transformation difficult. A few moments of quiet helps us see ourselves in the light of His glory, revealing what is important for growth and what needs to be left behind. Grace is the great sorter. If what is in our hearts helps us look like Jesus, it is there because of His grace and should be embraced. If something pulls us away from His image, His grace has the power to pull it out and cast it away.

My Jesus Resolution today is to do a heart inventory. There are many things I need to keep and treasure – evidence of His presence, blessings, faith lessons learned, love shared, and grace received. There are also things that definitely need to go – guilt, worry, bitterness, resentment, pride, and fear. Every day, Jesus gives me the opportunity for a fresh start, a new beginning, and a clean slate.