My garage is my front door!

A lesson Learned: by Robin Thomas

I have lived in my house for 10 years and I have parked my car in my garage a total of one, yes one, day that entire time.

Why? Because my garage is the dumping ground for all of the “I’ll get to its” and the “I might need it someday” things that I can’t bear to put away or get rid of. I have a bunk bed, but my dad made it so I can’t get rid of that. I have exercise equipment which I use regularly, at least once a year. I have books my kids read when they were little, all of their art projects, toys, and a myriad of equipment from the sports they have played over the years. There are extra chairs, fishing poles, random tools, rolled up rugs, and to top it off, the whole neighborhood uses our garage as the front door.

Occasionally I go on a cleaning spree where I get rid of something things and clean some things up, but within two weeks it will be repopulated with new random things.

So if life were a garage, what are you hanging on to that you don’t need? (1 Peter 5:7)

Why do we hang on to so many burdens when Jesus says lay them down? (Matt 11:28)

Why do we keep things “just in case” when Jesus says, “I will give you what you need?” (Matt 6:28)

And wouldn’t we be much more effective as a front door to the gospel if we cleared a path of all of our fears?

Bad memories, hurt, pain, resentment, grudges, the things that we hold on to that clutter our life, so we can’t invite people in, cause us to miss the opportunities that God is trying to give us.

My garage will not be cleaned out overnight, but if I work on a small section every day, every week, it will give me less baggage and more room to fill with the new bright and shiny toys of opportunity that God wants to give me.