We moved my mother move up here to be near us the last few years of her life. She has accumulated a lot in 87 years. Even though she gave away at least half of her kitchen equipment and several pieces of furniture, as the movers traipsed in and out and the little house begin to fill, we no longer said, “In the living room,” or “In the back bedroom.” By the end we were telling them, “Just find an empty corner and put it there.” True, the house is 100 square feet less than the one she left, but that’s only a 10 x 10 room, perhaps one very small bedroom, and there seems to be many more times that much furniture we have yet to find a place for. It appears that she will need to give away even more.
I found myself thinking what I might give up when we need to leave this place we have lived for 33 years now. Relatively small as family homes go, just 1350 square feet, we still managed to raise two boys to manhood and have accumulated far more than will fit in a house the size of my mother’s new one. So what can I do without?
The answer is really simple. You can do without practically every possession you have. Just look at what we take camping. It’s a lot to take for a vacation, but for living, it’s practically nothing and we manage just fine for well over a week.
But maybe the answer is even easier than that. What will you take in the moving van when you die? Absolutely nothing. It will be empty from front to rear, top to bottom. Absolute essentials for this physical life may be the smallest and plainest amounts of food, clothing, and shelter, but for your spiritual life, all those things that you spend so much time picking out, caring for, and working to pay for are completely nonessential
So why do we spend so much time and energy on them? Why do we care so much where we live and how it is decorated, what we wear and who designed it, what we eat and how good it tastes? Could it be because we have forgotten this fundamental truth: things of this life—possessions, status, wealth, connections—none of it matters to the wise child of God.
Do they matter to you? If you could not give them up, they matter more than you probably want to admit. And if losing them would turn you into an emotional wreck, your priorities need a serious overhaul.
Today, think about that moving van on the day of your death. It doesn’t really matter what you might like to put in it. Your soul is going somewhere, but it won’t move an inch.
Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. ​For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him, Ps 49:16-17.
Dene Ward
I found myself thinking what I might give up when we need to leave this place we have lived for 33 years now. Relatively small as family homes go, just 1350 square feet, we still managed to raise two boys to manhood and have accumulated far more than will fit in a house the size of my mother’s new one. So what can I do without?
The answer is really simple. You can do without practically every possession you have. Just look at what we take camping. It’s a lot to take for a vacation, but for living, it’s practically nothing and we manage just fine for well over a week.
But maybe the answer is even easier than that. What will you take in the moving van when you die? Absolutely nothing. It will be empty from front to rear, top to bottom. Absolute essentials for this physical life may be the smallest and plainest amounts of food, clothing, and shelter, but for your spiritual life, all those things that you spend so much time picking out, caring for, and working to pay for are completely nonessential
So why do we spend so much time and energy on them? Why do we care so much where we live and how it is decorated, what we wear and who designed it, what we eat and how good it tastes? Could it be because we have forgotten this fundamental truth: things of this life—possessions, status, wealth, connections—none of it matters to the wise child of God.
Do they matter to you? If you could not give them up, they matter more than you probably want to admit. And if losing them would turn you into an emotional wreck, your priorities need a serious overhaul.
Today, think about that moving van on the day of your death. It doesn’t really matter what you might like to put in it. Your soul is going somewhere, but it won’t move an inch.
Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. ​For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him, Ps 49:16-17.
Dene Ward
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