Storage Units and Stuff    

We need to follow our Lord's admonition to remember Lot's wife, for she was one who did not forget her possessions even in a time of the greatest peril. She was not guilty of having retraced a single step towards Sodom. All she did was look back. But how revealing was that backward glance! Does it not speak volumes concerning the condition of her heart?  Watchman Nee

I was driving to work this morning and on the corner is a huge storage company.  This building is 4 stories tall and the length of a football field.  As I turned the corner I thought about the stuff that is stored in that building.  There is a company that is making money on storing stuff that we currently don’t use.  Often there are times where we don’t even miss what is stored there and sometimes we don’t even remember what is there.

I am guilty of keeping stuff. Sometimes my stuff has sentimental value, like things my Mom has given me that remind me of her or something from one of my grandmothers.  These are the things that are worth keeping.   They may bring back a wonderful memory of the person who may be long gone.

Then there is the stuff that I keep because there might be a use for it someday.  The problem is I haven’t used it in 10 years so when do I think I will use it in the next 10 if I can’t even remember I have it. 

This is where the storage units come in.  When I have so much stuff that I don’t have space for it, I decide to rent an apartment for it so all of my stuff will have a place to live.  The thing is my stuff is not alone in the complex, it has neighbors.  The beauty of this is it is air-conditioned and climate controlled. 

There are times when a storage apartment is necessary.  These are the times when you move from a house into an apartment until your new house is built or you buy another house.  It would be kind of silly to sell all your current good stuff and then buy all new.  Recycling comes in handy in this circumstance.

Over the past year I have started unloading stuff.  I admit it, my husband and I were cleaning out our garage several months ago and I had a filing cabinet that had stuff in it that was older than dirt.  I admit this is not easy because I often will sit and reminisce about my stuff.  Where it came from, who gave it to me, how long I have had it and the story that goes with it. 

This is what I have learned since getting rid of my stuff.  I no longer miss it or even remember what it was.  God will provide for us but He never intended for us to collect so much stuff that we don’t have room for it and need to pay someone to store it. When you start looking at it from God’s perspective it seems kind of silly doesn’t it?  God doesn’t say in the Bible that he will take us to heaven with all our stuff.  He has prepared a place for us  where we won’t need earthly stuff.  I am looking forward to that move.
               
Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am guilty of collecting stuff.  Some of the stuff I have has not been used in years and sometimes to the point that I don’t even remember I have it.  Please help me to let go of the inconsequential stuff that I have accumulated.  Thank you for preparing a place for me where I will no longer need stuff. 
  
Scripture: Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”  So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.  You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”  And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.  Mark 10:17-22