Do not lay up for yourselves
treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and
steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also.
Matthew
6:19-21
Recently
while trying to maneuver the stroller through the busy crowd at the mall, I was
flooded with a bunch of thoughts.
First
thought…
Why
have people not figured out how to walk through the mall?
Stopping
mid walk,
walking
against “traffic”,
walking
full speed out of a store into oncoming “traffic.”
It’s
enough to drive a typically patient person insane.
Second
thought…
Wow,
I’m totally unstylish and broke.
As
I looked around at all the adorable clothes, jewelry, and shoes I felt despair.
Yes,
despair.
This
feeling of complete inadequacy.
As
I watched trendy girls walk by, I was envious.
I
wished I had more money.
Wished
I was 3 sizes smaller.
Wished
my house looked like pottery barn.
I
left the mall feeling discouraged.
Please
tell me I am not the only one this happens to?
Materialism
has always been something I’ve struggled with.
The problem with materialism is you are always thirsty. There is this continual feeling that if I can
just get that rug or those shoes or that bigger house then I will be
content.
And
thus ensues a crazy cycle of wanting bigger, better, and more.
I’ve
been on this crazy cycle so many times.
I’ve
spent much of my life dreaming for what’s next.
And
once I get it there is still this
void.
This
God sized void that I know only He can fill.
And
yet, in my sin, there are still days when I leave the mall in despair.
I
was blessed (and cursed) to marry a man who could care less about material
things. He has challenged me in so many
ways and questions my motives all too often.
My hubby would be happy living in a shack, as long as he had us
girls. He never wants for anything. And I’m envious of his ability to hold little
value in earthly treasures.
You
see, there is nothing wrong with things.
There
is nothing wrong with couches, curtains, and clothes.
There
is nothing wrong with being stylish.
There
is nothing wrong with enjoying decorating my house.
It’s
when these things become my purpose.
When
my thoughts, life and energy revolves around these things.
Then Jesus told his
disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever
loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he
gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return
for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory
of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has
done.
Matthew 16:24-27
I’ve
got a long way to go, but through His word, my hubby and some great books the
Lord has opened my eyes to my sin and has started to strip me of my desire for
earthly things.
I’ve
become so disgusted by the American dream.
It’s
all about excess.
All
about bigger and better and more.
And
I’m simply not going to buy in to it anymore.
It’s
not satisfying and I always leave thirsty.
If
I claim that Jesus is my sole treasure, then my actions should reflect it. For me, that means pursuing Him about all
else, laying my things aside, and
realizing this life is about Him, not me.
