My friend’s blog this morning spanned some deep thought, we’ll actually I’ve been thinking about it for a couple of years now but she brought back up to the forefront.
Stuff.
Collections.
I was pumping gas a couple of summers ago when the sign above the pump caught my eye, it was about collecting points to get free stuff, the caption was, “Love to Collect?”. Everywhere you go – in almost every store – you can collect something.
It says two things to me.
I believe it has caused a shift in people’s behaviour. Ever so slightly effecting how we view relationships. Our “loyalty” to something becomes, “What can you give me to stay with you?”. Not loyal because we like them but what we can get from them. The “they owe me” attitude… Do we do this with our friends – family – or even our church?
The second thing I think it is – is a trap. Stuff can weigh you down. Collections can tie you to a place or a thing that inhibits God to move more freely in your life. What about the belief that you have to have it? What does it fulfill in you life? Why do we need all this stuff? There is always a deeper issue. What void are they trying to fill? Are there things in our life that are holding us back?
If God called you to another country… would your collections (stuff) slow you down or even stop you dead in your tracks. Would you say, “Yes Lord, I will go where ever you want to send me… but after I find a place for all my stuff.”
Don’t laugh, it has happened. It is easy to put so much value into an object – I’ve done it. We fall in love with our things and it controls us. We attach memories to things, so letting go of things is difficult – but not impossible.
We have a greater purpose than to collect nicknack’s, points and limited edition items. The need for more. We can’t allow things – stuff – to prevent us from fulfilling our God-given destiny. Evaluate your life. Is there anything you can’t let go of… even if God asks you to? We should be putting as much love, money and attention into things that won’t burn in the end… things like our relationships – the one between God and ourselves and with each other.
This is what we talked about tonight at Ladies group.
If we’re going to change… you can’t be afraid of losing what you have.
Matthew 19:21; Mark 10:17-30; Mark 8:35
Amen! Totally agree with you, we get so attached to things but we have to remember it isn’t what is important in life.
Good stuff – we do get too attached to things that really have no usefulness to them! Altho..I must confess,when my girls were younger, I got them each ‘collecting’ something – why? Well, I figured, if people didn’t know what to buy them for their birthdays etc., then they could just buy them what they were ‘collecting’. The one girl collected Bears, the other Bunnies and the one Lambs. It wore off..and they kept only their favorits, now that their teenagers. It served it’s purpose…BUT….overall, as a society to use the word ‘collecting’ to actually hide ‘hoarding’!
I learned this when cleaning out to move…and even though we parted with so much stuff, I am finding even more to get rid of now. Different events in our lives show us what is important and what is not.
I’m pleased to hear such wonderful revelations. I reduced my posessions down to 6 plastic bins. I determined what to keep by what usefulness it may have in the future and what memories it holds of the past. Bring the best memories into the future.