Set Down the Bucket!

By Pastor E

This past weekend I was at Cabela’s purchasing and picking up items for our youth auction. While there, I discovered that Yeti made a very heavy duty work/recreational bucket. Of course it was a normal bucket with Yeti printed on it so they could charge you a bit more. Besides the sturdy handle and durability of the bucket itself, it also has an insert that fits inside the bucket giving the owner a way to separate small items from the other things inside. I thought this would be a great item so I decided to pick one up.

I headed to the checkout counter. I was greeted by a young lady with a smile as she scanned the barcode on the bucket. I paid for everything and then proceeded back to the church, happy with my new finds. I was like a little kid at Christmas as I carried everything inside. I grabbed the new bucket and began to inspect it. As I pulled out the insert in the bucket I realized I had made a mistake. On the insert was another price sticker and barcode for $20. I had paid for the bucket but not the insert which was sold separately–obviously the checkout lady didn’t know it either. 

I felt bad right away for not paying for the insert, even thinking I should go back to Cabela’s to take care of it. But those feelings quickly subsided as I began making excuses for not doing anything. “Cabela’s is a big company, they won’t miss $20.” “It’s their fault, they should have known it was separate.” “It’s not like I knew and was trying to steal it.” It’s so easy to justify our sin–making excuses, downplaying the importance, even casting blame on someone else to ease our guilt. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” 1 John 1:8.

For four days that bucket was on my mind. I thought about it randomly throughout the day, and even at night when I was trying to sleep. Every time I saw the bucket I got a sick feeling in my stomach, so I put it in a place I couldn’t see it. That bucket was tormenting me…….or was the Holy Spirit trying to tell me something? We cannot easily hide from unconfessed sins. Satan uses them to “bind” us, to take away our peace, and to chip away at our relationship with God. When we try to hide what God can already see it can literally make us ill and change our behavior. Psalm 32 says, “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.” 

After four agonizing days, I finally took the bucket back to Cabela’s. I told them what had happened and that I was willing to pay whatever was required to make things right. Shocked that I would even come back after four days, the manager apologized for missing the price sticker and thanked me for coming back in. He told me not to worry about and said there was nothing else I owed or needed to pay–they would cover the mistake. How much greater is our relief when we finally go to Jesus with our sins, confess them, and acknowledge our need for his grace. He forgives us, covering the payment, freeing us from the chains of the enemy with an overwhelming feeling of peace! “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin” Psalm 32:5. As I drove away from Cabela’s I cannot express the sense of peace I felt–and thankfulness for their grace in reconciling my mistake. The bucket no longer had a hold on me!

What “bucket” are you carrying today that is stealing your peace? Brothers and sisters, go to God, go to your brother or sister, and confess those things that have taken away your freedom. Only through confession and forgiveness can you regain peace. Set down the bucket!!! 

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8. 

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