It’s All Just Stuff
By Shauna Leis
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”
Matthew 6:25-27
Every year, my husband and I battle against society to ensure that our children know the real meaning of Christmas. We have specific traditions to remind us all that Jesus is the reason for the season. We limit the number of toys that they receive for Christmas as they have so many already they do not play with. And I am one of those crazy people that goes out on the Friday after Thanksgiving to do shopping to save us money on the gifts that we do purchase so we can adopt other families that are in need. However, every time we are in any store during the holidays, we are all bombarded by messages that we need to get more and more stuff. Several stores we have been in even had a “toy open house” where the kids could try out all of the new items before deciding what they really wanted for Christmas. The “stuff” message just kept getting louder and louder everywhere we turned.
Then, just a couple weeks before Christmas, our family got a very hard lesson regarding all of that stuff. I had only been at work for a few hours when one of our dear friends called me just sobbing. She needed her son, who is one of my son’s best friends, to come stay with us for awhile. Why, you might ask? Because their house and all of their belongings had just burned to the ground.
Now that was a wake-up call for me. In a matter of 20 minutes, this dear family went from building an addition onto their house to owning absolutely nothing except the clothes that they were wearing. My friend sat out in her front yard with a neighbor and watched all of her “stuff” go up in smoke. My heart just hung in my throat, and tears flowed freely down my face as I wept with her through her loss. Thankfully, though, all the family members and even the family pets escaped the blaze unharmed. And for that we are so incredibly grateful to God!
When I began to pray about all of this, especially for the family and their loss, God so began to speak into my heart about what I was creating into a god of its own. Stuff was taking over in my life again – filling my house with items, decorating from stem to stern, getting toys and other items for birthdays and Christmas presents. And through this reflection, God clearly reminded me that in a matter of minutes all my “stuff”’ could be gone. All my worldly possessions that I hold dear could be consumed by the flames of fire, never to be seen again.
What we must ask ourselves about our stuff or the accumulation of our stuff, is has it started to take the place of our God? Have we begun to look to our stuff to fill the void that can only be filled by God Almighty? I definitely do not believe that material possessions or even the pursuit of these is inherently bad. What I do believe is when we elevate all of this to the level of “god,” we will quickly find ourselves in problematic situations. Also, when the pursuit of more and more stuff causes us to make poor choices, we need to step back and reassess what should be most important in our lives.
Matthew 6:19-20 says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” What God values are the things of eternal significance – the lives that are being changed toward Him and will eventually spend eternity in heaven. God does not ask us as we are entering heaven how much “stuff” we are bringing with us. He is going to ask us how many lives we changed and affected for His Kingdom along the way.
My friend, after the day of the fire had settled down, said, “We are just so fortunate that no one was hurt. We can replace the stuff.” And is that not so true about our material possessions? Now, granted there are some things that we cannot replace exactly the same as they were before – like pictures, baby books, mementoes, the children’s handmade ornaments for the Christmas tree. But we can create new memories going forward with the people that we love. And we can ensure that our desires going forward are set on heavenly possessions, like the souls of our friends and families to be turned toward God and knowing Him more deeply and personally.
My prayer for all of us this holiday season is that we will do a “stuff” check to ensure that Jesus is the real gift under our Christmas trees this year. May God bless you, and may you have a most wonderful Christmas!
Pray with me: DearGod, first we are so incredibly thankful to You that You watch over us in times of need – even in times of danger. And we are so very grateful that this precious family was safe from the vicious flames of the fire. God, we pray today that You will help us all to do a “stuff” check in our own lives. We do not want our material possessions or even the pursuit of those possessions to become more important to us than serving You. You are our one true God. All that we have is Yours to use to further Your Kingdom. We turn it over to You to use however You design.
God, we so long for Jesus to again be the True Reason for the Season in our lives and our family’s lives. He is the most precious gift that any of us could ever receive. You gave Him up willingly so that we might be able to spend eternity with You in heaven. God, we love You so very much and pray all of this in the precious name of Your Son, Jesus Christ! Amen!