PACK RAT!

   ‘Desert Packrat in a Century Plant’ by Jules Jardin
is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Isn’t it cute?  Could God have created a pack rat just to poke fun at the human condition?  Pack rats just love shiny things.  If they see a shiny, silver gum wrapper they can’t wait to take it back to their nest.  But if they see something even shinier or more interesting, they will drop the gum wrapper and pick up the new, more exciting object.  Isn’t that just how we sometimes are?  Acquiring one shiny object after another?   

I had a neighbor in Seattle who just had to have one of everything.  First, he bought a corvette, then a boat, then a travel trailer.  It was like nothing satisfied him, he just had to have one more shiny object.  Oh how we fill our lives with stuff!  

It’s not as if God didn’t want us to enjoy ‘stuff’, listen to the wisdom of King Solomon! 

‘There is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can.  And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, (stuff) for these are gifts from God.’

However, he also said, ‘Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have.  Just dreaming about (another shiny gum wrapper) is meaningless-like chasing the wind.’ Ecclesiastes 3:12-13, 6:9.

It’s really a matter of the heart, isn’t it?  I am not my neighbors judge, but it seemed that he was ‘storing up for himself treasures on earth’ and ‘where his treasure is, the scripture says, there will be his heart be also’.  We are admonished in Matthew 6:19-21 to NOT ‘store up for ourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  

God wants your whole heart!  This is the first and greatest commandment!  As Jesus said in Matthew 22:27, ‘Love the Lord your God WITH ALL YOUR HEART and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  He is life’s truest treasure!

Earthly treasures can be a real distraction from what is truly important in this life! 

That is why once again the scriptures admonish us to ‘set our hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set our minds on things above, not on earthly things.’  Colossians 3:2.

Besides, as the gospel of Matthew says above.  Why invest in stuff, (treasure?) which just eventually turns to dust, needs to be constantly taken care of or gets easily stolen!!!  Do we really own the stuff or does the stuff own us?

It just makes sense to invest in those Heavenly and eternal things of God which are the real, forever treasure and have so many benefits to you right here on earth.  Eternity begins here!

AND ‘if we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33. 

AND ‘we know that our God will meet all our needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.’ Philippians 4:19.  

AND, as Timothy also admonishes us, ‘There is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.  But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.’ Timothy 6:6-8.