I am in the beginning stages of packing up my childhood trinkets in the room where I grew up. I am moving. My new adventure will begin once our honeymoon ends. We will make the 24 hour journey out west by car and hopefully stop to sightsee on the way. However, in order to begin this exciting, yet kind of scary, adventure, I have to eliminate some “stuff” that I have held onto (or one could say “hoarded”) over the years.
Isn’t it amazing how much “stuff” one can accumulate? I was brushing my teeth the other night while going over my check-list of things to do in my room and I realized I have A LOT for one person. I mean, I don’t even use half of it. Granted, most is for decoration to fill up my huge bookcases, and a lot of it I am keeping for our (Lord-willing) kids, but nonetheless, I have a lot! Thankfully, my sweet fiancée is the opposite of me. When he packed up his belongings to move to California it all fit in his car. As for me, I will need a large bus.
Material possessions are not a bad thing in and of themselves. They can be a huge blessing or they can be an enormous burden. You must ask yourself do you own them or do they own you? Jesus talks about our attitude toward “stuff” many times in the Bible. He tells us explicitly,
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:19-21
Never ending consumerist treadmill
So, what is our heart attitude toward our material goods? Are we on this worldly consumerist treadmill just trying to keep up with the Joneses? Or could we, unlike the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16-30), give it all up to follow Jesus? He, after all, is the only lasting treasure.
I am not encouraging my readers to sell all of your belongings and live like a hermit. No! I think you can be just as dishonoring to the Lord living like that as you can by hoarding a bunch of dusty objects. I am encouraging, however, that we step back and thank the Lord for what He has given us.
All good things are from Him.
James 1:17 says that,
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
He loves giving us gifts and he even says that,
“If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” – Matthew 7:11
God has you in mind
What an amazing God we serve. I am in awe of Him as I write this article. It gives me a peace in my spirit to know He ALWAYS, know matter the circumstances or situations and in spite of ourselves, wants the best for his kiddos.
He wants us to use the gifts he has given us for his honor and glory. If that means sorting through our plunder and giving it to the poor and needy then do so. Or perhaps that may mean having others over at your house, and using your “stuff” to entertain teenagers or young adults while being a mentor to them. I don’t know what it means personally to you, but let’s take a moment out of our busy lives and ask the Lord how that applies in our life.
I love how personal my God is. He is never changing and unlike my silly emotions, he is a steady firm rock where I can place my feet. What a sweet Savior I have. Do you know Him?
How has He uniquely provided for you? Or perhaps, how have you been able to step off the consumerist treadmill and use your possessions to the glory of God?
I am looking forward to hearing from you all!
Some final words from scripture-
John 3 verses 1-21
1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
I never have been on the consumerist treadmill, to the extreme that I have had to learn to stop being so cheap and enjoy life!
Me neither. I have always been able to be happy without going overboard. To me a happy life is a balanced one.
Good for you, Emily! Being cheap and being frugal are two very different things. I think frugality should be praised. However, being cheap can definitely stunt your joy in life. Learning to enjoy what God has given us is GOOD-His blessings are meant to be enjoyed. There’s always a balance in life. Unfortunately, we’ll never be able to permanently reach it this side of Heaven.
I believe you are talking about stewardship. Having too much stuff can distract from our duty to be good stewards with the blessings we’ve received. Sometimes the right thing to do is to pass those blessings onto others who can put them to use.
Never been caught on the treadmill, but love your question about owning our material goods or them owning us!