From Pastor John Collins:
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Jesus wants us to love one another, not our stuff. Giving and
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“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’” Matthew 19:23-24 (NKJV).
We have all heard this saying and
we all know that the
rich often struggle
with greed
and materialism. But
what about those that are not
filthy rich and those that have
even less?
What happens in the heart of a person that places
great emotional value
on possessions? What
about that quilt that grandma
made, those pieces
of jewelry from mom, that set of china from great-aunt Susan, or those baseball
cards from grandpa, not to mention the furniture that has been passed down
and the T.V. that you worked so hard to buy and add to the living room that
brings you such pride and joy
because you have better than when you were a kid?
When we place extreme emotional
value on possessions we are
setting ourselves up for failure
spiritually. We may have had an impoverished
upbringing that drives us to have better and more and when we attain that we
place such value on the things that prove how far we
have come. We begin to connect
with the stuff in our
lives and that begins to breed greed
and materialism in our
hearts.
We must be able to recognize that stuff is just stuff.
People that have lost
everything in a storm, fire or other tragedy
know that the true value in life
is life itself and we are to be
thankful for the breath that we have in our bodies. Having faith
is meant to keep us grounded
in what matters. We must know that we
came into this world with nothing and we are sure to carry nothing out of
this world. You may care about who gets what while you are here on earth, but
once you are gone, I can assure you that it does not matter who has your
diamond necklace or china set or even your house.
We can be strange creatures at times by attaching emotional
value to things. Things do not have value emotionally unless we give them that
value. When you connect with someone, when you give and receive love, mercy,
compassion, nurturing and empathy, these things matter. When we have moments in
time that express these feelings and share them with others, these things
matter. It is not the item that connects you or sustains you, it is the human
connection that carries you through.
Jesus
wants us to love one another, not our stuff. He wants us to walk together
toward the kingdom, not a lawyer’s office to decide who gets what. Jesus wants
us to care about the lives and destination of our loved ones, not the things
that show what we have inherited or attained in our lives. We should care about
going to heaven and not proving how far we got on earth.
“When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, ‘Who then can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said to them, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” Matthew 19:25-26 (NKJV).
