Day Four - Sell Your Possessions

Matthew 19:21
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow me."

Sell your possessions...Now that's a hard saying! 

As I was reading today's DARE, I was reminded of a recent situation.  I was in a home that was, let's just say, over-cluttered!  There was STUFF everywhere.  Every bookshelf and open spot was piled as tightly and as high as it could possibly go.  I thought to myself, "These people have too much stuff!"  It was obvious.

But don't we all carry to much STUFF???  We have our memorabilia...our hobbies...our collections...our status symbols...our past emotional hurts...our failures.  I have a lot of STUFF.  I'm a self-proclaimed pack-rat (but I'm working on it).  My roommate constantly jokes about all my electronics.  When I go running, I put on my heart-rate monitor, my Nike+ I-Pod attachments, my I-Pod, my ID bracelet...10-minutes later, I go running.  When did running become so complicated?  Do I really need all this stuff???

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to go to New Orleans to help out with some of the clean-up efforts from the effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  One of the projects I worked on was to completely clean-out and gut this woman's house.  It had sat for an entire year untouched after 8-feet of water had completely flooded the area.  I was amazed...no, I was STUNNED at the amount of JUNK this woman had in her home.  She had stock-piled garbage bags of clothes, toys and STUFF in her attic for the 30+ years she lived there.  She had kept all her kids (who were now adults) STUFF in their old bedrooms.  She had "hidden" possessions that I would be embarassed to even look at much less own.  She probably never thought anyone would ever know what she had.  But, we did.  Not only did we know, but everyone who was still in the neighborhood knew.  They knew because as we emptied her house, we piled everything she ever owned into a huge pile on her front lawn.  A HUGE PILE! 

It was during this time, I heard God's still small voice speak to me about my STUFF.  We think we can hide our STUFF.  We think our STUFF is private and that no one will ever see or know.  But there will come a time where that STUFF will either be sold and removed willingly, or it will be exposed publicly.

I like the analogy of the pack of a marine.  You only want to carry what you will need and use.  Everything else is just added weight.  In our Christian walk, God wants to use us.  But oftentimes, we are too weary carrying around our STUFF.  We've packed ourselves so tightly and so high that we cannot even function properly.  Our homes aren't places of fellowship and invitation because they are always packed with STUFF.  Our hearts aren't places where God can dwell because it is packed with too much of the STUFF that we should have let go of, dropped off, forgotten and/or forgiven.  But for whatever reason, we still hang-on.

I am committing to this DARE to "live with less so that I can give more." 

I've already made some of those decisions.  I have been unemployed for 6-months.  I have been finding ways to trim the budget, to save more, to continue to give.  I had to make a choice between 2 areas:  my 2 sponsor children Brazil or the gym.  I decided that they gym membership had to go.  In the process, my gym is willing to work with me on a lower rate.  I feel like God will bless me for making this decision.  I love going to the gym, but I feel that sponsoring these 2 children in Brazil is much too important.  I don't have cable. I don't have a landline or internet.  I have made these decisions because my tithes and my offerings are more important than any of these things.

I know there are other things that I need to be doing and will be praying toward that end.  I want to be a giver and allow the Lord to use my resources (finances, time and giftings) for His Glory!