Bro. Brian Dowd tells of a special memory from when he was five or six years old.  While his parents were busy with pastoral work, a couple from their church volunteered to take the children “garage saling.”  They loaded up the children in their station wagon and gave each one of them a dollar to spend at the garage sales. 

Bro. Dowd sat in the back seat, anticipating what he might get with his dollar.  In his young mind, he was filthy rich!

Not only were they getting ready to spend their wealth, but the children were also given treats. 

This family stopped at a convenience store and got all of their children and the Dowd children popsicles and ice cream.

Bro. Dowd said that he sat in the backseat of the station wagon, eating his popsicle and clutching his precious dollar.  He ate his entire popsicle until he was left with just the stick and wrapper.

He quietly scooted toward the door.  He carefully rolled the window down a few inches, slid his hand up, and quickly threw the trash out the window.  He rolled the window back up and breathed out.  He was relieved that no one had noticed what he did. 

He had gotten rid of his trash, and now he was on his way to the garage sale.  He opened his sticky fingers to look at his dollar.  Waves of horror washed over him!  There in his hand was his popsicle trash!  His heart sank as he realized that he had just thrown out his dollar!

Bro. Dowd told this story and noted that the devil would trick us into giving up the greatest treasure that we have in exchange for worthless trash.  Haven’t we seen people do just that—exchange spiritual wealth for a moment of pleasure?

But not only does this relate to sin, it also relates to the cares of life.

We all know that this is a busy time of year.  It’s important to hold the things that matter in our hands.  I’m sure that there have been times while trying to “do it all” that I haven’t gotten it right. 

We have tried to work, shop, decorate, make special memories, have programs, plan meals, yes, all while our washer is going out, our sink is not draining correctly, and much more than I can explain here!

Some things are going to have to go out the window.  It’s just the way it is. 

But when they do, I want it to be the right things.  I don’t want to look down at my hands and realize that I’ve been guarding worthless trash while the things that really mattered got tossed!

Such a simple thought for this season.  But an important one.

Merry Christmas!