Take out the trASH. (LENT Devo 40:1)

So this morning, I put on a pair of jeans, put my hand in my pocket and what do you know? A $5 bill. I call that a “good day”. Ever had one of those? Then, I head over to grab a cup of coffee before a morning Ash Wednesday service I’m helping to lead. I go to pay for my coffee and, what do you know? I had a free drink on my coffee card that I didn’t have a clue was there. Free coffee! That good day, just turned into a BETTER day!

Thus I just bopped along through the next few hours enjoying this first day of lenten reflection and “good day” fortune.

Then I came across this in my lenten devotional this afternoon:

Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. “Selah“

Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”– and you forgave the guilt of my sin. “Selah“

-Psalm 32:1-5

Yikes. Here’s some perspective. An undiscovered $5 bill? Ok. Kind of cool. Free coffee? Yeah. Not bad. But, seriously? Psalm 32 put a much richer and deeper perspective on the day.

Kind David is speaking to some GREAT sin he had in his life. Can’t you hear it? “For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of the summer.” That’s intense. But, here’s the beauty of the following. Check out the, THEN/AND statement.

Don’t miss this. Ready?

Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity… AND… you forgave the guilt of my sin.

THERE! See it? David acknowledged the guilt of his sin. He didn’t cover it up. God sees the heart. David knew this about God. So he threw it out there. All the trash, all the garbage. The dirty truth exposed. And you know what? God forgave the guilt of his sin.

Done. No longer there.

King David knew that to get rid of the trash, you got to take it to the curb. So he does. And, guess what? God took it. Indeed, “Happy are the ones whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.”

The good news is this. That trash you have? It can go to the curb. In fact, God WANTS your trash. Seriously. It’s that trash that Christ went to the cross for. So, get it to the curb. Take it out. Then? Take a deep breath. In and out. After all. Breathing is easier when our trash is gone, right?