What’s In Your Pocket?

“Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch or pocket of his shepherds bag..” I Sam. 17:40 David picked up stones and put them in his pocket where they would be readily available when he needed them.

I have always loved pockets for their convenience. They serve a  purpose for me. The purpose of a pocket is to conveniently store small items, offering a place to keep them within reach and freeing up our hands. Those items are close by when we need them.

I think there are spiritual pockets in our lives. Our hearts are like spiritual pockets. We can store items like scripture, songs and wisdom in there. They are there close by when needed. We can also store things that don’t belong there like shame, insecurity, unforgiveness. Either way, good or bad, they are within reach so it frees up our hands to do other things.

What’s in your pocket? How deep do your pockets go? Has God ever asked you to show Him what’s in your pockets? I bet we tend to hold onto a lot of extra stuff including things that don’t belong in there. Is what your carrying around in your pocket unnecessary weight?? Would you be embarrassed to show Him what’s in your pockets? At times, He will ask us to dig deep into our pockets and surrender by laying out before Him everything we have so that He can see what’s in there. He may ask us to surrender some things over to Him. Others He might let you put back.

What about a pocket with a hole? There is no benefit to a pocket with a hole. If your pocket has a hole, it will always be empty. Our spiritual heart, unfilled, with a hole, will be empty without Him, His Words, His knowledge, and worship.

David’s pocket was empty and open. Our pockets start out empty too but you pick up things along the way that you might need later. We store up in our pockets what we might need in the future. David picked up and kept 5 stones he “might” need in the future. His pocket was open for stones. Open pockets always have room for something.

Sometimes when you buy a new pair of pants, the pockets are sewn shut. That is to prevent debris from getting in them when they’re moved from warehouse to stores. It also helps them keep their shape. We don’t need to keep our spiritual pockets sewn shut. If they’re sewn shut, God can’t give us anything for our pockets. Closed pockets are for people who want to control what goes in and out. Nothing good OR bad can get in. You just have empty pockets unavailable to fill.

When you’re showing God what’s in your pockets and He gives something back to you from your pocket, save it till you need it. He will have you use it. Use what’s sitting in your pockets; don’t just let it keep your pockets full. David put stones in his pocket and took out the perfect stone when it was needed. “Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead.” I Sam. 17:50 He used what was in his pocket, when it was needed. What’s in your pocket?

And, finally, you can’t do anything for God with your hands IN your pockets! Hands in your pockets say you’re closed to anything else God has to offer you. You have no room for more from Him. You already have what you need.

God doesn’t want what’s in our pockets so much as He wants to fill our spiritual pockets. People don’t need whats in our pockets as much as they need what’s in our spiritual pockets - our hearts. Fill your pockets with less lint and fill it with more of Him.