STUFF... How to handle it all

Stuff is important, or some stuff is. Growing up, we had stuff. Stuff we used and stuff we did not use and stuff we were not allowed to touch. In the mid-’70s my parents bought new living room furniture. Even then as a preteen to teenager, I thought the sofa was ugly, so being told not to touch it or sit on it did not bother me. It did though cause me to think. To think about stuff.

My favorite, contemporary theologian made the following statement… “God does not mind us owning stuff but He does mind stuff owning us.” – Dr. V. Bauchum

I still have stuff in my life but it is mostly just stuff. Important when I need it, unimportant when I do not. I have refused to let stuff own me. Do not misunderstand what I am saying. There is stuff in my life that I see as valuable and precious. I would hate to lose it or see it broken but I refuse to set it in a cabinet to look at or in a drawer to remain unused. That just seems silly. An example would be a pen given to me by a dear couple I value greatly. It is a very expensive pen and due to the cost, it is not one I would have purchased It looked expensive, it wrote excellently, and it made a statement to people who know and appreciate fine writing instruments. I have loaned it to people to write something but I waited till they were done and made sure I got it back. Not because of the pen and its intrinsic value but because of the value I put on the people who gave it to me. When I used the pen, I thought of this family.

Did you catch the past tense there? Yeah… past tense. A few weeks ago, I dropped the gifted pen and it hit the ground in such a specific way that it broke the barrel. I still have the pen but I do not carry it as it is in two pieces. I still enjoy the pen. I see it broken and it now brings different thoughts to my mind. It not only reminds me that God has put precious people in my life (for which I am eternally grateful) but God has put me around people who are broken. They have been hurt or are in a situation that makes them feel like there is no escape. I want them to know God is bigger than any hurt we have and more than capable of carrying us through any situation that we face. You see… We are not “stuff” to God. We are His favorite creation. He loves us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to die in our place so that we could be offered something we could not earn… Salvation.

Let us make a commitment to put the “stuff” behind us and begin walking right with God.

Hebrews 12:1 - …let us throw off all the stuff that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us…

Stuff can be cool… God is always awesome.