Old Files

Psalm 55:22 (NKJV)
Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

I volunteer my time and efforts at a Christian based community center in my town. Two days a week, I help with the food cupboard. Sometimes I help-out in the office doing tasks that get put off until time is found or made, or a volunteer is available to do them. Things like filing, sorting, shredding, etc.

It is general procedure in most offices to destroy documents with sensitive information vs. disposing of them in tact. Certain files are kept for varying amounts of time, and once they no longer need to be stored, they are shredded and disposed of. That’s what I did again today: shred old documents. It’s a bit boring, but an important task nonetheless. “Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” (Eph. 6:7 NLT) In other words, even if it is boring stuff like shredding, do it to the best of your ability, as you are doing it for the Lord.

As I was feeding sheets through the machine, I got to thinking, what if we could take all of our mistakes, bad choices we’ve made, things we’ve said and done that we regret, anything in our past that we want to get rid of, and like sheets of paper, run them through the shredder, destroying them so they’re gone forever from our lives? How much lighter our hearts and consciences would be!

When we confess our sins to God, and accept His son Jesus Christ into our hearts, He forgives us, and our sins are gone. “Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light’.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NLT) We don’t have to store all that old junk within ourselves. We can give it all up to Jesus. It can all go away. Just like running it through the shredder.


Psalm 32:2 (NLT)
Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (NLT)
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.