By Dr. Rebekah McCloud
I have a dreaded disease, I’m a packrat. Some of you might have it, too. How do you know? What are the signs and symptoms? Well, when you can shop in your own closet, drawers and cabinets and find things that still have tags on them or things you haven’t used or seen in 6 months, you’re a packrat. A lot of people have a lot of stuff. Here are a few stats:
- The U.S. Department of Energy reports that one-quarter of people with two-car garages have so much stuff in there that they can’t park a car.
- According to the National Soap and Detergent Association, getting rid of clutter would eliminate 40 percent of housework in the average home.
- If you rent a storage facility to store your excess belongings, you’re contributing to a $154 billion industry – bigger than the Hollywood film business (1 in 11 do)![1]
Makes you want to holler! Decluttering has become a major industry. Who would have “thunk” it? When I first started thinking about departing with some things, it was painful. Because, using it or not, it’s my stuff. Therein lies the rub. I have been storing up treasures here on earth. Matthew 6:19-20 tells us not to do that. In the NLT it says, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.” This passage quickens my spirit. Resources are meant to be used, not stockpiled. Amen.
As stewards, God has made it possible for us to have resources. Some have more than others, but God has given something to all of us. It’s our job to take care of and use these resources wisely. Of course, we should use them to care for ourselves and our families, but 1 Peter 4:10 reminds us that we are also to use them to “serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” I heard it said that “we are not on this earth to see through one another, but to see one another through.” That’s our reasonable service. Amen.
In the Bible, there are many people who used their resources for others. There was a widow woman who used her last flour and oil to make a cake for the Prophet Elijah. She used her resources to serve another. There’s another story about a woman who poured expensive perfume from an alabaster box on the head of Jesus. She used her resources to serve another. Then there’s the rich man, Boaz. He noticed a widow gleaning, after the reapers, in his field. He instructed the reapers to leave some of the sheaves for Ruth. He used his resources to serve another.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 9:11, “you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take our gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.” We have been entrusted to care for God’s resources. When we utilize God resources God’s way, he get’s the glory; for his glory is not ours. Amen.
I read an article on managing God’s resources. It asked an interesting question: “What hinders us as stewards?” It went on to answer the question this way. It said, “Selfishness overcomes our call to share our lives with others. We covet instead of being satisfied with what God has given. We are proud instead of humbly realizing that all we have is a gift of God. We are ungrateful, crowding out a spirit of thanksgiving and praise. We are fearful and anxious instead of trusting our Father who knows our needs and promises to sustain us. We are short-sighted, looking much at the things of time and little at the things of God’s eternal kingdom.”[2]
Ouch, that was a toe-stepper. It brought to mind a scripture, 1 Corinthians 4:7. It says, “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” What a reminder that all things come from thee, O’ Lord.
There’s a passage
of scripture that I want us to take a minute to consider. Matthew 25: 31-40, says,
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels
with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the
nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from
another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then
the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my
Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation
of the world.For I was hungry and you gave me
something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger
and you invited me in,I needed clothes and you clothed
me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit
me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and
feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When
did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
When
did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply,
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and
sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Amen.
As I see it, we are the benefactors
of God’s generosity, his grace and his mercy. He freely gives us his resources
and entrusts us to do the right thing with them. Only what we do for Christ
will last. Amen. Are we sheep or goats?
[1] J. Becker (2020). The Statistics of Clutter, at https://www.becomingminimalist.com/the-statistics-of-clutter/.
[2] J. Gibson (2007). Managing God’s Resources, at http://www.plymouthbrethren.org/article/4977