Store Our Treasures in Heaven
“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. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”
Matthew 6:19-21 NLT
https://www.bible.com/116/mat.6.19-21.nlt
Life sure is a journey and an adventure, that’s for sure. As I reminisce on our past journey I realize I’m a hoarder. A hoarder of stuff. Not the kind on the tv shows where you have to walk over boxes and weave through a maze of stuff to get anywhere, but yes a hoarder. I do have to laugh as I sit here writing this blog at the kitchen table hidden by boxes of stuff. I have to squeeze through just to sit down.
We live in a generation where minimalist is key. We are trying, believe me, but it’s harder than it should be. We moved from Missouri to Indiana with twin toddlers and a baby with one small moving truck. After our fourth child and 25 years in our first home, we moved with at least five large storage units of stuff! Five! Our next home had 5000 sq feet, large enough to have a place for all of our stuff, and did we fill it up. The house as well as the three car garage! And then there were only the two of us. Yes you heard me correctly! But we felt convicted to get rid of stuff. So we began. We sorted, threw away, sold, gave to charities, gave to family, but the stuff was still overwhelming. Seeing how much we gave away would be impressive to say the least. But when looking at what we still had, well, it didn’t even look like we dented it. To give a semi idea of what we’re talking about, we found every card from every holiday. We found our first paycheck stubs from when we were 16. We had every scribble and art project for each of our children. We had broken stuff that we were going to fix, “some day”.
We had all the letters ever written to us, now that’s one of the most precious finds. I have to admit I couldn’t get rid of these. After reading ideas in Pinterest I grouped them by person and wrapped the bundles with ribbon, planning to store them in an old trunk. A trunk I still plan to refurbish, someday.
And pictures! Wow! So many! Fortunately now all our pictures are electronic.
So then we moved from Indiana to California. Even after downsizing it took us 2 large moving trucks and a trailer.
We still had two large storage units and the apartment we were living in.
Then we moved to a one story home with no basement. The two car garage was still full of stuff, but no storage! Yay!
Our most recent move, less than a month ago, we downsized to a one bedroom home and no garage. That’s why I’m sitting behind a stack of boxes. We’re getting there slowly, but it’s hard to let go of stuff.
That’s what I’m writing this blog about. It’s a struggle living in this world and being able to let go of the stuff we see, touch, smell, remember. But when we let go and keep our eyes on God our Heavenly Father and let the Holy Spirit in, and keep in prayer with Jesus, everything falls into the correct perspective. That sounds easy enough, and today it may be. But tomorrow or even five minutes from now, we may be back looking at our stuff. This is another reason we need to keep in prayer and be in God’s word. Things, people, circumstances, our surroundings and situations, they all pull us away from our Heavenly Father. We also need to pray for each other. I know I need prayer! We need prayer from our family in Christ to stay in prayer. Let’s support each other in prayer! My prayer for you the reader is that you will see the face of God and be filled with the Holy Spirit! That you will follow Jesus with all your heart! May God Bless you in everything! Let’s all remember to store our treasures in Heaven!