I had a brief moment of angst this morning. I had gotten the call that one of God's dear children had been called to recieve her eternal life. Since it was morning, I was in the process of my morning routine. You know, shower, eat breakfast, get dressed, that sort of thing. And I decided to put on a red button-up shirt, in my mind a symbol of Christ's blood shed for that dearly departed sister in Christ. So I went to my closet with my dress shirts and started looking. I saw a sort of burnt orange shirt, but it wasn't the one I was looking for. I saw a couple of really dark shirts, but they weren't my red shirt. I saw a lot of blue and pastel colored button up shirts, but I couldn't find the exact red shirt I was looking for. That is, until I started looking in between shirts. There it was, having been slightly pushed back by the weight of the other shirts pressing against it.
It struck me again right then, as it has so many times in recent years. I have too many shirts. That closet space that I was looking in was merely one part of one closet of mine. Yes, I have many more shirts, and they all hang there the same way. So many packed in that, when you put a bundle of shirts away, they push the ones back that hang right next to them. I have too many shirts.
I am a slave to having stuff. I have purchased practically every shirt that hangs in my closets, along with the countless Tshirts filling drawers, and so many other things crammed around my closets, under the beds, and in boxes. I am a slave to having things. And that's when the words of Jesus so clearly ring in my ears, when I am confronted by all my stuff.
"Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required." "Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat' or 'what shall we wear'?" And then, in an encounter with a young man versed in God's law, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treaure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
I'm a slave to my stuff much more than I'm a slave to Jesus. I like to have stuff. I have stuff in places that hasn't been used in a year and a half. At some point, I felt that I needed it. But now, it sits unused. And the troubling thing is, the value of that stuff would probably be enough to feed small villages in other parts of the world. But my heritage is that of so many others in this nation. I need stuff. I want stuff. And I even get stuff that I don't use.
When I think about how painful it would be if Jesus were to say the same thing to me that He said to that young man, it really does rip at me inside. But that's so often how God confronts those things that enslave us. He puts us in conflict with them, and exposes how we so often want more stuff rather than want God and His will. Stuff in and of itself isn't bad. It's our desire for that stuff that ultimately threatens to enslave us and draw us away from our Lord Jesus.
I hate that I am a slave to stuff. I actually do look forward to the day when Jesus completely and finally frees me from that slavery, even if it means passing through the doorway of death, or welcoming Him back as He re-creates this world. Until then, Lord Jesus, keep me uncomfortable in my slavery to my stuff.
It struck me again right then, as it has so many times in recent years. I have too many shirts. That closet space that I was looking in was merely one part of one closet of mine. Yes, I have many more shirts, and they all hang there the same way. So many packed in that, when you put a bundle of shirts away, they push the ones back that hang right next to them. I have too many shirts.
I am a slave to having stuff. I have purchased practically every shirt that hangs in my closets, along with the countless Tshirts filling drawers, and so many other things crammed around my closets, under the beds, and in boxes. I am a slave to having things. And that's when the words of Jesus so clearly ring in my ears, when I am confronted by all my stuff.
"Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required." "Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat' or 'what shall we wear'?" And then, in an encounter with a young man versed in God's law, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treaure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
I'm a slave to my stuff much more than I'm a slave to Jesus. I like to have stuff. I have stuff in places that hasn't been used in a year and a half. At some point, I felt that I needed it. But now, it sits unused. And the troubling thing is, the value of that stuff would probably be enough to feed small villages in other parts of the world. But my heritage is that of so many others in this nation. I need stuff. I want stuff. And I even get stuff that I don't use.
When I think about how painful it would be if Jesus were to say the same thing to me that He said to that young man, it really does rip at me inside. But that's so often how God confronts those things that enslave us. He puts us in conflict with them, and exposes how we so often want more stuff rather than want God and His will. Stuff in and of itself isn't bad. It's our desire for that stuff that ultimately threatens to enslave us and draw us away from our Lord Jesus.
I hate that I am a slave to stuff. I actually do look forward to the day when Jesus completely and finally frees me from that slavery, even if it means passing through the doorway of death, or welcoming Him back as He re-creates this world. Until then, Lord Jesus, keep me uncomfortable in my slavery to my stuff.
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