Calling all Hoarders

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2025&version=NIV

After my dad had passed away, my mom moved in with my brother and we were left with the task of cleaning out their house. For most, this is not a problem. However, my parents were hoarders, so there was a ton of junk in that house. They could not bear to part with anything. As we were cleaning, I found receipts from thirty years prior. Can you believe that! Thirty years! I know my parents aren't the only ones who have this problem. They have whole TV shows dedicated to this problem. Many people have "things" they don't know they have and haven't missed in fifteen years. Yet, as I write this, I'm reminded of what God has to say about this condition. None of it is good. For riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations". " What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches?" However, I think the story that Jesus told of the master who was going away and gave one man five bags of gold, another two bags of gold, and to another one bag of gold. When the master came back, The person with only one bag of gold was dismissed or let go not because he spent his money wastefully but because he hoarded what he had. He dug a hole and buried it. Whether it's things or money, God expects a return on what he gives us. The bigger problem is that when we hoard money or things we are, in reality saying, "God, I don't trust you. I don't believe you will provide what I need, so I have to hold on to this." Hoarding is a lack of faith in God, pure and simple. What we often forget is that we will take none of the things that we work so hard for with us when we die. People will not take a U-Haul with them when they die. Besides that, the streets of heaven are gold so your riches will be of no use there. My friends let us remember that God wants us to trust him with our finances. He wants us to use every bit of everything we have wisely not wasting but not hoarding it either. I'm not saying it's wrong to have things as long as we can remember that everything we have, comes from God, and we may answer to God for what we did with it. Set some limits. If you have more Jeans than you can wear now; you may not need to buy that fifteenth pair of jeans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGpFs5JwgFg

Comments

Live Fearlessly

As I was driving home today, I passed a person walking on the side of the road. Since it was cold, and snowy, I thought I should stop and offer the person a ride. As I drove on by, I was irritated with myself for not stopping. I could have and should have but I didn't. Why? I was scared! Maybe that wouldn't bother you, but I'm willing to bet there are things that make you afraid. It may be snakes or spiders that send the ticker into overdrive. Or maybe it's your job and finances that keep you up at night when you should be resting. Then again perhaps it's relationships that consume your thoughts and energy. As followers of God, we know that we are told not to be afraid. Yet we often are afraid despite everything we know. As I was driving away from a missed opportunity, I began thinking about what it is that makes us afraid. I honestly am not sure what it is that causes us to be afraid when we should be bold, but I

Tragedy: A Christian Response

I want to start by telling you a story. We were new parents. When Our oldest, a son, was about eighteen to twenty months we had another baby, a girl with brown hair and huge eyes. One day as I went to feed her, my son who may have been two at the time wandered off to another part of the house. The next thing I heard was a thud. I grabbed my baby girl and ran to see what happened. There was my son with a table on top of him. He had pulled it over on himself and more blood than I had ever seen was running all over. We put him in the car and dashed for the ER. It was not a fun trip. He had a skull fracture and many stitches. Fast forward about fourteen or fifteen years, I’m at a stop light and watch my youngest daughter about ten start across a street on a bike start across a street just as a truck comes around a corner into the path of the bike. She hit the side of the truck and bounced onto the road. I grabbed her up and checked her over there were no injuries, but

The God of Order

Yesterday, my children and I went walking on a bike trail. The weather was perfect. Sunny, warm but not hot. As we were walking, we started to talk about creation. Creation itself always amazes me. Can you imagine watching creation unfold at the word of the Almighty? It would be the most glorious and lovely thing to see. As we were talking, I asked, “What do you think would have happed if God had created people first?” They stopped gave me a questioning look then my daughter said, “I suppose that we would have starved because there was no food.” And we all had a laugh creating other scenarios for what might have happened if creation had happened in any other way. Yet, the fact is that creation itself demonstrates that God is a God of order. Each day of creation built on what had been done the day before. It also reminds me that God wants our lives to be as orderly as possible. God planned creation before one word was spoken

Inspirations

Search This Blog