My Porch Is A Museum

My porch is a museum. Zena, my dog, has an abstract collection of treasured discoveries she likes to share with me. With great enthusiasm, she brings her cherished finds and arranges them in creative displays around my front door. Zena's head tilts sideways and her toothy grin erupts into happy chatter. Her excitement spills over in leaps and spins as I step through the door and she anticipates my delighted reaction to the gift of her masterpiece. Day after day my mouth drops open and I stand speechless, gazing with amazement at the new assortment that has appeared overnight. I don't understand where she finds this stuff. She takes my look of astonishment as a compliment and twirls about me with glee. She is proud of her accomplishment and runs off to find materials to design her next project.

Most days I laugh and shake my head, but today a silent scream exploded within me. My frustration grew with every piece of mangled garbage I touched. "I get tired of cleaning up your messes," I barked at her. She dropped the ball she was gnawing and came over to comfort me. Zena knew I was upset but was blissfully unaware of the cause. Finding it impossible to stay mad at her, I ruffled her furry head and exclaimed, "What will I ever do with you?"

Later, while reflecting upon this experience I had a revelation. Zena and I are not so different.

Garbage, trash and animal carcasses are repulsive to me, but she delights in these stinking bits of unrecognizable refuse. So what do we have in common?

As a sinful human being, I have a warped sense of what's truly valuable. With great enthusiasm, I bring God gifts of my own design but they are tainted with the stench of sin. I seek after the corruptible things of this world. I collect and fill my life with the things I see as cherished treasure. God looks down and sees these things for what they really are, garbage. He sets about cleaning up the mess and I immediately go out and find more. He has been very patient with me, but He doesn't want me to remain in ignorance. The Bible gives us the information we need to discern the difference between trash and treasure. It clears away the fog so we can see what is acceptable to God and what kind of service He wants from us. Without this knowledge which God imparts, our offerings will be of no use to Him and our lives will be a museum of worthless refuse.

My prayer is that God will open our eyes and help us discern and treasure those things of true worth and eternal value. May we study to show our selves approved and render Him an acceptable service.

Bonnie Morsette ~ 7/12/2009