Filling Up on Rubbish

One sunny winter day when my son was a very verbal eighteen month old, I watched him scamper down our hallway, stop to pick up a piece of lint from the carpeting, and stuff the lint into his mouth. I smiled at his silliness as I walked into the kitchen to make a pot of soup. When the soup was ready, I called him to the table, but he replied, “No, thanks! One lint is enough to eat!”

I still smile a decade later at this memory, but it also gives me pause as I consider how often I do the same thing: fill up on rubbish. I’m not speaking of filling my belly, though I am easily tempted by unhealthy sweets. Rather, I’m referring to those things that take my time and energy and fill my mind. How often I fill myself with rubbish instead of the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ! The apostle Paul tells us that anything gained outside of Christ is loss and that all is worthless when compared to the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus and being found in him (Phil. 3:7-11). Yet, I struggle to fill myself with Christ and forgo the rubbish. Do you?

I do it in subtle ways like choosing to watch Netflix instead of spending extra time in prayer. After all, I tell myself, I worked hard today and need a little mindless relaxation. I pick up my phone to check the forecast and an hour later my finger is still clicking and swiping and I’m justifying my time-waste by remembering how I began my day with Bible reading. Social media, television, computer games, online shopping—the list is endless—tend to steal our time and fill us with rubbish. The more we eat of these, the less hungry we are for the things of God. 

If everything outside of Christ is rubbish, then even the positive and healthy things like piano lessons, art lessons, math camp, exercise, yard games, family hikes, and so on can make us too full for knowing Christ Jesus and His surpassing greatness. Unless Christ is our supreme treasure, we are surrounding ourselves and filling ourselves with rubbish. Though we deem these things good, without Christ we are merely picking up pieces of lint and excusing ourselves from the true feast. 

God’s kingdom, Jesus tells us, is like treasure hidden in a field. When you find it, you will be so joy-filled that everything you own and everything you do will seem utterly unimportant and you will happily exchange it all for that treasure-laden field (Matt. 13:44). It is a pearl of infinite value whose worth will surpass everything else for which you have yearned (Matt. 13:45). Are you filling your treasure box with rubbish?

Jesus tells us more about this priceless kingdom. He tells us it is also like a net cast into a lake. All kinds of fish are caught up in it and it is dragged onto shore by fishermen who collect the good fish in baskets, but the bad they throw away. “This is how it will be at the end of the age,” says our great Treasure, “The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous.” (Matt. 13:47-50). We will stand before the great throne of God with the angels, and the elders, and the living creatures, and a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language (Rev. 7). There we will bask in the brilliance, the light, the glory, the magnificence, the otherness of the one Treasure so great that the living creatures cry out day and night, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,' and the elders join their song, 'You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power'” (Rev. 4:8, 10-11).

When the elders take off their crowns and lay them at the foot of the throne, what treasure will we have to offer? A pearl of infinite worth, or a box full of worthless lint?

“Take, eat; this is my body,” says our true Treasure. “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant.” (Matt. 26:26-28). Let’s stop filling up on rubbish and, instead, feast on the Bread of Life, the only Treasure worth having.

~ By Laurie Kreller Pluimer. Laurie is a full-time wife, mother, and homeschool teacher with a passion for reading and writing. Her husband pastors Covenant Christian Reformed Church in Appleton, Wis. Additionally, she enjoys teaching Sunday school and coordinating the Vacation Bible School program. She resides in Sherwood, Wis. You can find her blog at lauriekreller.blogspot.com.