“For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.”                                                        Deuteronomy 7:6(NKJV)

You never know what you’ll find in the trash.

I like using plastic grocery bags to line the waste baskets. It makes me feel less guilty about possessing a ton of them due to forgetting my cloth bags at home (all the time).

I’m particularly careful when emptying trash in the bathrooms. Things tend to fall in. Things not meant to be thrown away. I dump the contents, eyeballing the debris as it free-falls into a larger trash bag.

Yesterday, at the bottom of the trash, I found a treasure. A ruby-red glitter sticker, heart-shaped and worn. Though specs of glitter still remained, it had lost most of its sparkle.

I imagine you thought I was going to tell you I’d found a diamond ring, a coin, or other item of monetary value. Right?

Stay with me here as we uncover the treasure.

The fact that stickers are an in-demand commodity to those under twelve, and I happen to adore anything remotely resembling the infamous ruby slippers, didn’t even come to mind. What struck me had a much deeper meaning.

I was struck by the analogy of a trashed heart.

How many times have we given our heart away to careers, the wrong person, shallow friends (the what’s-in-it-for-me kind), only to have them stomped on and trashed?

A fragile heart with layers of hurt piled on top like empty toilet paper rolls, and discarded shaving cream cans.

Do we intentionally throw away diamond rings, photos of infants wrapped in warm bundles, or our car keys? So why do we so easily give our hearts over to that which robs it of its sparkle?

When we aren’t chosen for that promotion; when we aren’t chosen by that certain someone; when we aren’t chosen by a friend to be maid of honor.

When we aren’t chosen.

As I plucked the cushy heart sticker from the trash, I couldn’t bring myself to throw it away.

A reminder. Jesus came to save us. He came to pluck our dirty, crushed hearts from the trash.

The Lord is our treasure, and we are His. He will gently hold our hearts, and He will always choose us. Are we choosing Him?

It’s time to get your sparkle back.

Lord, You are my treasure. Forgive me if I’ve only given you a portion of my heart. Direct my steps, as I surrender my whole heart to You, Jesus. Thank you for digging my heart out of the trash, and bringing back its sparkle. You have chosen me, and I choose You. In the Mighty Name of Jesus. Amen.

Be Blessed!

Doris