For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21
I bet most of you probably don’t know this about me, but I collect things like teapots, dishes, plants, turquoise…well, you know…“stuff.” I like my stuff. I bet you have stuff too. Most of us do. We all have our “stuff” and probably too much of it.
Have you ever looked around and wondered what will happen to it when you are gone? Ok, now stay with me here; I do have a point. My youngest son, who lives in the Atlanta area, was home for a visit with his family one time and was questioning me about my stuff. Actually, he was scolding me about all my stuff. (I did have to remind him who the parent was.) Anyway, he told me I had way too much and that he and his brother were just going to burn the house down because it was too much to deal with. Well, that’s one perspective, albeit a man’s at that. I explained to him that we had lived there for twenty-five years and when you are a collector, well, you collect “stuff.” He never got the point.
But God got my attention. As I began to look around at the clutter in my home, I began to wonder what my heart looked like. Did it resemble my home? Every nook and cranny filled with something. Yes, these items mean something to me, but what do they mean in the light of eternity? What could I have done to help spread God’s Word, or given to someone who is on the mission field? (Now I’m feeling a little uncomfortable.) Where is my treasure stored? Just how cluttered is my own heart? Ouch!!!!!
I thought I had better begin doing some heartcleaning. Yes, I said heartcleaning, like we do housecleaning. I needed to look inward, with a shovel. Ugh! So I began to dig in God’s Word to see what He wanted me to do. Oh my, this could get painful…
First He said in Matthew 6:24 – No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. Gulp, I think I’m beginning see that I was putting too much attention and time into collecting my stuff rather than in spending time with Him. He’s very jealous of His time with us and wants to be with us. Those we love we spend time with. That’s what He wants, us to spend time with Him.
Second, Matthew 6:33 – Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Humm…so what He’s saying here is that if we seek Him first and give to Him first, He will in turn bless us over and over again. In my own life, I became so obsessed with getting more stuff that I forgot what I was really seeking. After a while our hearts become so cluttered, dry and barren, we begin looking for anything to fill the emptiness in our souls. That’s when we begin to look elsewhere for something to comfort and fill us, not realizing that those soul holes can only be filled with one Person.
Third, Isaiah 58:11 says, The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs…We need to learn to set our minds on the Lord and allow Him to guide us in our everyday heartcleaning. Only He knows what we really need, and only He can truly fill those holes that are dry and empty. Instead of going out and filling ourselves with more “stuff,” let’s begin the process of emptying out our hearts and lives and filling up on what the Lord wants for us - those things that matter to Him, peace, joy, love, kindness gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, patience, and self-control. Yes!! That’s what I want more of in my heart…and less clutter too! I want my soul holes filled with all His goodness and grace that He has for me for that day. I no longer want to wander around empty and dry, always seeking what the world has to offer. I want what He has for me. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to start shoveling. And being a gardener, I have an extra shovel if you need one.
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