Tag-Teamed by Waylon Jennings and Big Bird

Our 5 year old daughter, Patty, lay entranced on the living room carpet as a slew of muppets sang their way across the cutting-edge technology VCR tape.

While she watched Sesame Street's "Follow That Bird," I bustled about cleaning.
Patty flagged me over. "Mommy, watch with me. It's the best movie ever."
I didn't have time to watch a children's show.
               
                           The house was cluttered.
                                      My mind was cluttered.



I paused for a moment to placate her. On our enormous 25" TV Waylon Jennings sang,

           "Don't dwell on the bad times once they're past.
                    That kind of thinking gets you nowhere fast."

The advice hit me with the impact of a rampaging Snuffleupagus.

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I needed to clear the "clutter" from my mind. The nasty memories that replayed a daily litany across my brain.
                    All the things I'd done wrong.
                          All the wrongs done to me.

Onscreen Waylon advised the oversized yellow fowl to let it go.

I don't know if Big Bird followed the admonition, but I did. I stopped replaying my mental "junk tape."

Years later, after I'd invited Jesus into my life, this scripture jumped out, "Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead." Phillipians 3:13

Recently Pastor Ramona of Bible Truth Ministries asked a group of women to list three things we'd tried but didn't succeed at. Next she asked, "How often do you think about those things?" Monthly? Weekly? A shocking number of women raised their hands at "daily."

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For some of my friends those negative thoughts had been replaying for years like bad re-runs on a cable station.

Back in VCR days we had "head cleaners," a special tape we plugged in to clear the debris from the machine.

For humans, God's Word is a great head cleaner. Think of scripture as a tape.
Replace the old junk currently playing by inserting the new tape of God's Word.

For example, if you feel unloved play this tape:

This is real love--not that we loved God, but that he loved us

and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 1 John 4:10

 

Are negative pictures playing across your mental screen? Here's encouraging advice from the Living Bible:

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No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. Phil 3:13

Now that's a mental movie worth watching. Maybe we could even get Waylon to do the soundtrack.