“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being."
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
I’ve been watching episodes of a show on the FYI network called “Tiny House Nation”. The “concept” offered in the show’s introduction is that all across the nation, people are rethinking their housing and downsizing from homes that average 2300 square feet to something that only has a few HUNDRED feet of space! Each show features the construction of one “tiny house” that is created for a family or an individual.
The builders assess the homeowner’s needs and wants and then produce a “tiny house” that hopefully addresses these in an esthetically pleasing manner – and somewhere around 400 square feet or less! One of the hosts also works with the homeowner(s) to downsize clothing and other possessions and whittle the number of these items to an amount that will fit inside the new abode. The theory is that the “tiny house” owners will focus more on other things in life - and less on material possessions – while they trim their expenses and save money in the process.
It’s a novel – and perhaps noble – concept. Let’s be honest. Try as we might to be less materialistic, I bet any one of us could open a closet or cabinet right now, and we would have to admit that we have plenty…if not a little more than we truly need. I get it…having extra underwear so you don’t have to do laundry as often is convenient. Extra cans of soup in the pantry come in handy when we have an ice storm and you can’t get to the store. That ricer you store in your cupboard and use twice a year is a nifty gadget when you need it! It’s fun to have “stuff”! I love my home – and everything in it!
I understand that people have to work to pay bills…sometimes more than one job and crazy hours and/or schedules. I realize that a lot of people work at jobs they don’t particularly enjoy just so said bills can be paid…while others love their jobs so much that they don’t want to stop working! But when we begin to focus on material wealth and possessions…when making money to buy more “stuff” is more important to us than spending time with family and friends - or God…this is a problem.
When it is more important to us to play with our “toys” or “do something fun” than to fellowship with others and worship God, things are out of whack. When we have time for movies, television programs, sporting events, video games, bridge club and Bunco, hunting, fishing, golfing and more…but we don’t have time to pick up our Bibles and study God’s word or to talk with Him about what He desires for us, there is an issue. When we have all manner of time to Google everything under the sun, but we can’t look up the number of someone who hasn’t shown up at church or in our other “circles” for awhile and ask “How are you doing?”…we’ve pretty well gotten our priorities out of balance. When we are more focused on “growing” our churches – in membership numbers and facilities – than we are in nurturing those who are on the rolls and filling every chair and pew in our present space, something is terribly wrong.
God wants us to enjoy our lives. And I am grateful for every single material thing He has allowed me to acquire. But I am more thankful that He taps me on the shoulder quite often and says, “Hey! Remember ME! Include ME in your list of treasures and work on what’s in your ‘heavenly closet’ for a change!”
I don’t want to live in a “tiny house” anytime soon…and I hope that is not what God has planned for me. But I am really trying to store up more in heaven…and less here on earth. Aren’t you?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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