trash wars

Taking out the trash is the worst chore, especially when you live in an apartment of girls who all share that same opinion. In my last apartment, the constant struggle was keeping the trash out of the apartment. We would bag it and put it by the door, but the walk to the dumpster just seemed to be more than we could handle. For me personally, the worst part is the smell that comes from the top of the bag when you pull the strings to tie it together (gagging thinking about it). I would say that many living situations without a designated trash person (dad or brother maybe?) would have a similar problem.

In my mind, I named it: trash wars. See who can stand to see or smell the bag longest and how long someone else will leave it there. Let's call it a game of endurance. I began to play the game in my head often. The real test comes when someone has a friend over- does it stay or does it go? How many bags can accumulate before someone takes one out? It is an interesting game, but I would not call it fun- it is also a little lazy, guilty as charged.

Think about it- do you have a friend that you would let come into your house with a full trash bag by the door, maybe a messy room and dishes in the sink? You know the friend I am talking about, you simply are comfortable with them and know you will not be judged no matter what your life looks like. Imagine you let your "comfort" friend in the house in the middle of the trash war to watch a movie or to eat dinner, they stay for a while and have a good time, then they sneak out and take the trash with them to the dumpster for you. (Cue feeling like the worst friend ever and most disgusting person, realizing that the trash wars could have ended and you did not actually have to test your roommates...) So you tell them to leave the trash, they refuse because they want to serve you, and you feel like a crappy friend, woohoo!

What if we were as comfortable letting Jesus into the messy parts of our lives as we are letting our "comfort" friend in during trash wars? What if we let him into our messy rooms, relationships, and thoughts? What if we talked to him the way we talk to our friends who know the good and bad about everything that goes on in our lives, the one(s) we go to immediately after we hear news or anything happens?

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

Jesus cares more about us than our trash bags. He wants to be included in the messes and allowed to come into our lives at any point; he wants to be invited in at every point. When he knocks, we can answer confidently, no matter the condition of our house. Maybe life is a wreck, work is hard, friendships are confusing, and your house is messier than ever; that is when he wants to come in most. We do not need to clean up to let him in, the verse above does not say, "If anyone hears my voice, cleans his house, and opens the door," it simply says that He will come and eat with whoever hears him and lets him in. It is as simple as that, no matter the circumstance- just let him in. I even would go a step further and say that Jesus is like your "comfort" friend. If you let him in in the midst of trash wars, he most likely will come in and have fun, and sneak the trash out for you, no questions asked. I feel confident in knowing that my Jesus is more than a Creator, father, and savior- he is a friend, a "comfort" friend, and he has no problem taking the trash out for you once you simply let him in.

Let Jesus be your "comfort" friend, he wants more than anything for you to let him into every single room of your life and to help you clean it up, rather than making him wait for you to clean it up before you let him in.