In anticipation of moving house soon, I have been trying to clear out cupboards and boxes. Given that I also have a storage facility full of things I have not seen for three years, and a garage with boxes that I have not used in one year, I am appalled at how much “stuff” I have gathered. By now you may be asking the same question I am, how much do I need this if I have not touched it in three years, and the answer is I don’t. I don’t need it, some of it I like, much of it I cannot remember why I bought it in the first place, and so my “barn” is filled with stuff, unnecessary stuff.

We are a society which loves to shop. We consume more and more, and despite recession and debt we are still out there buying. I am as guilty of this as anyone don’t get me wrong, but the strange thing is we are all so well aware that after the first flush of pleasure “stuff” doesn’t make us any happier or any more satisfied. So why do we continue to gather?

There is still within us a small voice telling us that this product will make us better, more beautiful, more accepted, happier and we want to believe it. Jesus warned us differently. He spoke of the man who gathered more and more, and built bigger and bigger barns, yet that night he died and none of his “stuff” had any meaning.

We have a Father who created us, who loves us for what we are, who wants us to love ourselves and each other, who accepts us regardless of income or possessions and offers us peace and lasting joy. I have yet to buy anything which offers that.

“A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Luke 12:15.

 

Elsie Bouffler (http://blog.mydailythought.co.uk)