ALWAYS CHASE AFTER THAT WHICH IS GOOD

Downsizing

This morning following devotions, I pushed back and began to look around at all the stuff crammed into shelves, drawers, mounted on the walls, piled up on tables, stuffed into closets. This led me to take a stroll through the rest of our small house, and to my surprise, (perhaps the word should be shock) the awareness of the sheer volume of STUFF took my breath away!

It was not always this way. In the 90's, my bride and I took downsizing to the max as we sold our house in Virginia and loaded what little was left onto a converted Trailways bus and hit the road. Every earthly possession of ours fit nicely on that bus. We used to laugh silently to ourselves when kind folks would give us gifts during our travels, knowing that when we accepted, something else would have to go. One item comes in, another goes out. Organizing our stuff was easy!

When we finally parked the RIG and moved back into a non-wheeled house, some adjusting had to occur. We had been on the road living on the bus for a bit over ten years. Recalling our first few nights in our new non-movable home, everything we owned fit nicely in the kitchen and living room. As we explored the balance of the near empty building, we were taken by what we determined was –wasted space-- !  A sudden urge came upon us to put something on that blank wall, or fit a cabinet or bookcase in that corner. Little by little, inch by inch, in a very short period of time, we have filled this house up with loads and loads of STUFF! Very little –wasted space-- remains.

My youth brings back a memory of George Carlin and his humorous examination of STUFF. He would quip; (para-phrase); You collect so much stuff that you have to get rid of a bunch of your stuff so that you can go out and get more stuff! How true this is. We will be making weekly trips to the Goodwill starting next week as we begin the process of downsizing.

Much of what we now have in this house is rarely, if ever, used. If it is used, it is once a year or perhaps two, or, we think –we just might need this thing one day-- The STUFF becomes un-useful on a daily or weekly basis, takes up space, and often is hiding something that you DO use frequently and when finished you always dutifully place it back behind the thing you do not use so that you will know where it is when you need it again. This is insane!

Downsizing is an activity that is good for the soul. We constantly carry around issues, thoughts, mental projects, emotional baggage that instead of helping us to advance in our walk with Christ, it makes us stumble.

Matthew records the words of Jesus; (Mat 6:19) "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. What applies to our physical STUFF also applies to our spiritual STUFF. We all have too much STUFF.

Jesus continues; (Mat 6:20) "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal...

The less non-essential baggage we carry in our minds the more effective our efforts become when giving of our time to our Lord. Clarity, especially in prayer is vital. Getting rid of junk, things like jealousy, envy, selfishness, anger, pride and deception clears the walkway and removes stumbling blocks as we advance on the road to eternity with our Christ, our Savior. So often, the sheer noise of all this STUFF drowns out the small quiet voice of Him who loves us so. As a result, we miss the message. I don't want to miss His messages!

That which you store up as a treasure in heaven will pass through the flame of purification. The rest will perish. Oh, by the way, all the STUFF left behind on earth after your last breath, will be somebody else's STUFF.    Another good reason to DOWNSIZE.

HAVE YOU READ YOUR BIBLE TODAY?