I NEEED More Stuff!
We live in a society that makes acquiring stuff so easy…too easy maybe. Shopping online was a thing before the pandemic, but now…brick and mortar stores are shutting down because they can’t compete. We are obsessed with stuff, more stuff, and much stuff. (If you go to TLCC, you’ll get that!) The problem is, we’re not here on this earth long and nobody says on their deathbed, “Man, I wish I’d collected more stuff.” Pastor has said many times, “I’ve never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul trailer.”
God doesn’t mind us having things that bring us pleasure or joy, what He minds is when that stuff blocks His way to us. Mark 8:36 “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” We’re selling out our soul, our coveted relationship with the Father, when we place more value on things than His presence in our lives.
In Ecclesiastes 1:14 (NET), King Solomon writes, “I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man on earth, and I concluded: Everything he has accomplished is futile – like chasing the wind!” The Amplified version ends this way “… a futile grasping and chasing after the wind.” KING Solomon…the very title implies that he was a wealthy man, and as a king, would have many things, yet even he recognized that, on our own, our acquisitions and accomplishments are futile. Webster’s describes futile as “incapable of producing any useful result; pointless.” Ineffectual and useless are not the words I want to be remembered by. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” By placing more value on the kingdom of God, first and above all other things, we can be assured the desires of our heart.
Before we accept Jesus, it’s like there’s a hole in our heart and we try to fill that hole with stuff…fame, fortune, empty relationships, etc. Remember the toy you played with as a kid, the one with all the shaped blocks and you had to fit them in the matching shaped hole? The hole in your heart is shaped like a “J” and the only thing to fill it is Jesus.