I have a hard time watching those hoarding TV shows. Something about them just turns my stomach. I can’t imagine what would possess someone to look at a Ritz Cheese Cracker Sandwich box and think, “Hmm, I should probably keep this because it could become handy someday.” Or to toss a bag of Jacked Ranch Dipper Hot Wing Doritos over the shoulder and think, “I’ll pick that up some day.” Or to drop the wrappers of thirty Hershey Almond stuffed Kisses at the feet of a gravy stained recliner and think nothing of it.
It seems like these hoarders have given up on life and think they deserve junk because they believe they are junk. They have become the trash they toss their trash into. Life is a waste can for them. That’s a sad place to arrive at in your life.
But I must admit, as I write that intro, my mouth salivated over each of those junk food items and wanted to taste them right now. I promise I would properly dispose of the wrappers and boxes, but passionately I want that junk in my mouth.
We are junk-a-holics when it comes to food. Ten years ago, I turned away from meat and embraced vegetarianism. I discovered a plant-based diet was best for me to get me off my cholesterol drugs. I lost weight to a point, because I also discovered the joys of bread, butter, cheese and fatty nuts because, hey, they had no meat in them!
Sweet and Sour Filled Twizzlers have no fat (by the way, they’re Kosher) and Cape Cod Potato Chips are made from potatoes…right? They should be good for me…wrong. Sugar and salt became my new hoarding habit. Now I must curb those items from my diet. Will the self-destruction ever end?
We’re also junk-a-holics when it comes to life choices. In Exodus chapters 31 and 32 the Israelites made a big stinking pot of Golden Calf after Moses disappeared on the mountain with God for 40-days. As a vegetarian, I applaud seeing that cows are especially bad for you if you worship them, but I’m also amazed by how stupid these Israelites were, turning to the junky idols of Egypt when they have the priceless God right there on the mountain in front of them.
Why did they turn to junk when they had God only feet away from them?
While I wrestle with that concept, I ultimately examine my own life and realize I turn to junk all the time in my spiritual diet. Instead of praying and tasting the word of God, I read useless books, watch dumb movies and play win-less video games. Why, why, why?
When Jesus fed the 5,000 and later the 4,000, he miraculously cooked up two doctor approved ingredients and multiplied it for all – whole grain bread with no preservatives and fresh wild-caught fish. The ingredients were healthy, and both are approved by doctors today. When everyone ate the meal, it says at the very end of each account that “they were satisfied.”
That’s what we need. Satisfaction. Satisfaction keeps us away from junk. You don’t want more when you’re happily full.
We think we’ll find satisfaction with the junk, but it always ends up falling short. We consume it, then, the next time junk is offered to us, we forget the feelings of shame and regret and pick right back up where we started, making the same junky choices again. The cycle continues.
Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Isaiah 55:2
If we delighted and remembered the satisfaction we received with the best, then we would never return to the junk. We need better memories, more willpower and the stamina to stand up to temptation because junk has a way of knocking on the door and knocking us down all the time. Remember the best God has given you and what he has in store for you. Stick to God’s time-proven spiritual diet and you will see the positive effects and get positive results.
God wants to serve us the very best because he sees our value. Jeremiah 29:11 says his plan for us will be very satisfying – a future, a hope, success and prosperity. No junk.
When we wake up to this reality and look around, we realize we are living in spiritually hoarded junk piles, created by one seemingly harmless decision at a time. God wants to rescue us from the mess and give us a junk-free life, fully satisfied life with our freedom in Christ.
