Throw It Away

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIV)

It was a great day in the history of computer technology when the "Recycle Bin" was invented.  Prior to this great technological breakthrough, "delete" was a deadly thing to do on your computer.  People would bring me their machines (or call me to come to them).  They were in a frantic panic.  "I don't know what I did!  I hit something and my files disappeared!!!"  I would have magic software that would search for the file and every once in awhile I could get the file back.  I was a hero.

Then the Recycle Bin came out.  Files that we deleted on our computer really weren't deleted...at least for awhile.  They went into this magic bin that was marked for removal later on when the bin got full and needed to be "emptied."  Then the files were actually gone.  This was great because unexpected, mistaken, hitting-of-the-wrong-key could be recovered by a simple double-click and "restore" procedure.  You still have control, though, deciding when to empty the Recycle Bin and get rid of things for good.

The boxes (thoughts) in our mind work much the same way.  We have control over when and where those boxes will go.  One of the most important options we have is the option to throw it away.  We can say "no" to a thought that comes in our minds.  In fact, our Will is always strong enough to get rid of those "bad boxes" when they come in our minds - no matter where they originated.  

We can destroy and demolish anything that "sets itself up against the knowledge of God."  We can take boxes "captive" and make them obedient.  We have control over what goes in the recycle bin and when it gets completely thrown away in the trash.  

I like having the power to press "delete" on any thought that comes into my mind.  I just wish I didn't do it when I'm trying to remember somebody's name.