taking out the trash

I hadn't even noticed it was piling up.

Slowly but surely, the trash in my life had been accumulating.  It was the quietest garbage I'd ever (not) heard, and it fit in so comfortably and slipped in so discreetly that I didn't miss the room it was taking up.

Kind of like when you put things behind the garage.  You don't realize how much is there until one day you decide you'd like to use that area for something else, something better, and when you see the mountainous heap of forgotten things, you exclaim,  "Oh my word, where did all THIS come from?"

And you realize it's time to haul it away.  And quick.

I'm seeing that's the way it had been with my thinking.  Not to play a broken record, but I'm still talking about things I'm learning through Geneen Roth's book.  Until I started reading it, I had no idea how far off course my thinking about food and eating was.  Not only was I no longer on the right road, but somewhere along the line I had taken a detour that led to nowhere.  The way I was headed was never going to take me where I wanted to go.

Perhaps you've had a time in your life like I'm having now- you read something, wrote something, heard something that so revolutionized your thinking that it blew you away.  It was almost too good to be true, too simple to be true, but then

you put it into practice and learned that it worked.  And you were amazed.

It's a wonderful feeling.

In Genesis 35:2, Jacob faced his own garbage heap situation.  Having been told by God that it's time they move on, he calls a household meeting . Jacob has one important instruction for them before they pack their tents and load their camels. "Get rid of all the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes."

Jacob had seen the light.  He had come to his senses, realized how great God was and that He was all he needed.  Foreign gods were worthless idols and excess baggage for the trip.  In essence, their leader told them,

"We're moving on but before we do, we need to take out the trash."

Foreign gods only take up valuable room that God Himself wants to occupy. Lose the idols, gain a lighter load for your journey.

Where do you need to do that today?