Where did we get all this stuff?

August 4, 2006

By Danny Cheney

Life is rapidly changing at the Cheney household due to the soon-coming addition to our family. My wife, Sonya, is expecting a child. We have to make room for Hannah Elisabeth.

I waited 12 years to get a study in my house. In January, I was able to make the “spare” room into a study. Then in May I had to turn around and get rid of the desk to put in a baby bed. In the process of this shuffling in our home I came to a major conclusion: We have too much stuff!

I have taken out things we haven’t used for years, even things we have never used. I have cleaned out closets, entire rooms and the garage and thrown away a ton of stuff we don’t even need. Our new baby has prompted us to ask ourselves something we probably should have considered a long time ago: Are the things we have all that necessary for our lives? Why are we breaking our backs trying to fill our house with things we really do not need?

In the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:15-21) Jesus describes a man who had a lot of stuff. So much that he had to build a bigger barn to put it in. When he had built his barn to fit all of his stuff in, he said, “Soul, take ease, eat, drink and be merry.” Isn’t that what we often say? We believe when we have got all the stuff we think we need, then we can be happy in life.

But in Jesus’ parable, God’s focus was on the rich man’s soul, not his possessions. The truth of the matter is, we get distracted by stuff in our attempt to fill the void in our soul. Whenever our soul is not filled with the things of God, we try to fill ourselves with the goods of this world. We have to buy more things, acquire more things, achieve more things because we are spiritually anemic and we base our happiness on what we have.

Possessions can’t fill the void in our heart. They may fill our home, but they’ll never satisfy our real need. In His parable, Jesus spoke of God’s strong rebuke to a materialistic mentality: “Fool!” God told the rich man, “this night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” There it is, the famous saying, “You can’t take it with you!”

What good is all this stuff when it cannot do you any good from eternity’s perspective? What good is it when it cannot even satisfy you completely in this life? You must take care of your soul first. Jesus compared the rich man’s folly to anyone who lays up treasures for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Are you rich toward God? God is not concerned with how much you attain materially, only eternally. Look to eternal things to satisfy your soul. Only God can fill the void in your heart. All your stuff passes away. Take care of what lasts — your soul!

Danny Cheney is senior pastor of First Assembly of God in Nederland, Texas.