Steve Higginbotham’s article about his grandmother’s slop bucket brought back some memories for me.  Here is what Steve wrote:

One of the childhood memories I have of my grandma and granddad’s house in Reader, West Virginia, was the “slop bucket” they kept by the kitchen sink.  Now, for those of you who don’t know what a slop bucket is, it was a bucket that contained all the scraps from previous meals.  My grandma didn’t have a garbage disposal, so following a meal the “scraps” from dinner went into the slop bucket.  When it filled up, my granddad would take it out back and bury the contents of the bucket.  Now this particular “slop bucket” had a lid — because it needed one!  There was no use in exposing the decaying scraps from previous meals.  Those meals were over, and those remaining scraps were sealed up and were to be buried in the backyard by the garden.

If only we all had, and used, our own personal “slop buckets.”  What do I mean?  Well, how often do you get into a little fuss with someone, and before you know it, you dump out the scraps from previous conflicts?  Things that should be forgiven, resolved, and buried away, never to be mentioned again, often reappear when we find ourselves in confrontation.

Listen, when something finds its way into a “slop bucket,” that’s where it needs to stay.  Put a lid on it, and when it gets full, bury it.

My grandmother, Louise Dixon (“Nanny”), had a slop bucket, too.  She didn’t have an electric dishwasher; just a big sink.  So, on occasion, when I was visiting with her at her home in Henderson, Tennessee, I would volunteer to wash the dishes after one of her delicious meals.  (Please don’t tell my wife that I know how to wash dishes.)

Nanny gave me instructions on how to wash dishes.  I always felt like I had to wash them twice.  She instructed me to clean all of the contents off the dish into the slop bucket, rinse the dish, and then place it next to the sink, ready to be washed with soapy water.  After washing, drying, and returning the dishes to their proper places in the cabinets, I was instructed to take the slop bucket and dump its contents into her outdoor garbage can.  Unlike Steve’s grandfather, I didn’t bury the slop, but it would ultimately be carried to the dump far away.

Steve’s words also caused me to think of the “slop” that I bring into my life and to the lives of others.  It’s those “stinking” attitudes, words, and actions that I regret and that bring pain into my life and the lives of my loved ones.  It is sin and it smells badly.  It also offends our God.  It needs to be put into a slop bucket and buried deeply underground or taken to the dump far away.

Perhaps you are thinking of your own slop.  We all have contributed our share (Romans 3:23).

Here’s the good news.  God loves us so much that He took care of our “slop” problem.  It cost the death of His Son, Jesus.  Jesus died on the cross for our sins – our “slop” – so that we can be forgiven and receive the gift of eternal life.  “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24 NIV).

God will forgive and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  He will “wipe our bucket clean,” and He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).

Like the slop in the buckets next to the sinks of Steve’s grandmother and Nanny’s, sin is smelly and gross.  But because of God’s great love and forgiveness, that slop can be dealt with – buried deep or carried far away – where it won’t bother us anymore.

Don’t YOU want to have your slop removed?  You can, if you will submit your life to the Savior.

-- David A. Sargent

David A. Sargent, Minister

Church of Christ at Creekwood 
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama  36695

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