Craig Clouston

 Garbage Tampering

January 10

This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.

Deuteronomy 30:19–20

He carried the garbage to the curb as he had for the last two years, leaving the bags the prescribed three feet from the road. It seemed innocent enough, yet today it felt deceitful. You see, he’d been putting his trash out with the neighbor’s, allowing her garbage man to pick it up.

It hadn’t seemed like such a big deal. After all, he gave his neighbor money once in a while to help her out and ease his conscience. But today, as he carried the bags to the curb, he was overcome with a startling conviction that this was wrong.

Admitting his actions had been a form of stealing, he carried the bags back to his trash bin, went into the house, and called the refuse company to admit his deception, asking forgiveness and offering to pay restitution if they required it.

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We spend our days making choices that affect our lives not just for the immediate future, but by setting patterns. When we set wrong patterns, we hinder God’s ability to bless us. We dismiss these little issues without much thought because we’ve ingrained these patterns in our lives to the extent that we categorize our sins—a form of desensitization. “Nope, can’t do that; that one will bring lots of grief!” “That’s not so bad as long as no one finds out; it won’t really matter.”

Today’s text reveals that God sees everything we do, knows every thought we embrace, and we alone are subject to His blessings or curses. We live our lives asking for and expecting God’s blessings but are frustrated and can’t understand why life is an uphill battle most days. Could it be because we don’t recognize or admit that the little things we’re hiding stand in His way? It is God’s desire to bless us.

Prayer

“Father God, giver of blessings and curses, help me to live a life worthy of blessing. I don’t do well on my own. Reveal to me anything that would bring death. Help me remove them from my life and draw nearer to you. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”