Letting go

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-20).

As I get older, I find my attitude towards ‘things’ changing.  By ‘things’ I mean personal property.  Used to be I didn’t think twice about buying a new book to read; these days I think about the stack I have waiting to be opened and ask myself, can I finish them all before I die?  Do I really want to add to the backlog?  Every few months I clean out a batch of something old—clothes that don’t fit, DVDs I’ll never watch again.  Why not let someone else enjoy this stuff?  Why let it collect dust and take up space?

This has been a rough year on homeowners—hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires have taken house after house, leaving families with their lives but little else.  Camera crews film their grief at losing so much so suddenly.  It’s not just stuff, it’s memories, physical connections to the past.  Through the tears, most vow to rebuild.

It gets me to wondering how attached we should get to stuff.  I’m more willing to get rid of things than many people I know, yet there are others who retire with nothing more than a recreational vehicle and a desire to hit the road.  Perhaps they understand the value of stuff better than the rest of us.  As far as they are concerned, too many possessions are just a nuisance that slow down getting where you want to go.  Where you’ve been is important, but should never hold you back from reaching your destination. 

Jesus gave multiple warnings about getting too attached to stuff.  He understood our desire to make nests, feather them, and get awfully comfortable once surrounded by our favorite things.  Protecting our nests and getting them just the way we want, saps time and resources that could be put to better use—bringing the Good News of salvation to people who don’t have Jesus as their friend.  In fact we can get so wrapped up in our homes and the things that give us pleasure that Jesus gets largely forgotten about, putting us at risk of being forever homeless when we die.

It’s a tragedy when a family loses most of what they have, whether to natural disaster or bankruptcy.  But Jesus offers us a home that will never go away; don’t get too attached to the things you have now because over the long haul, they just aren’t that important.