You know the expression “you can’t take it with you,” or in Bible-speak, “For we have brought nothing into the world, and so we cannot take anything out of it” (1 Tim 6:7). Several years ago, when my parents turned 80, I was grateful when they started getting rid of ‘stuff’ because later it made it easier to move them out of the house they had lived in for 20 years.
Isn’t it amazing how much stuff we accumulate over a lifetime? We may say “this world is not my home” but our garages and attics (and rented storage lockers) tell a different story. I think how much stuff we have is related to how much we value our stuff.
I remember when I travelled around the world years ago. I stored all my stuff with friends, taking only a backpack. One day I got tired of walking all over India with a heavy backpack, so I downsized and bought a knapsack. Sometime after that, my knapsack was stolen. Then I had no stuff. I purchased another knapsack and bought more stuff. A month later, I forgot it on a train platform. Once again, no stuff. I came to realize how little value there was in my stuff. When I got home two years later, I couldn't even remember what stuff I had stored with my friends. But alas, since then I've acquired more stuff. Maybe it's time to start unpacking. “Don't store up treasures here on earth... Store your treasures in heaven...wherever your stuff is, you'll find your heart” (Matt. 6:19-21).
After writing yesterday’s post about ‘things,’ it occurred to me that if you let go of your things, if you had no thing, you would have “nothing.” It’s not easy letting go of our things, because we think the things we possess and the things we do are who we are. Without these things, we believe we are nothings! That's what holds up our progress in faith.
We hold tightly the belief that our things are what holds us together. So God holds up His Son as an example of one who wouldn't be held back, by things of the world. It behooves us to consider what things are holding our attention, and may be holding us down. We need to make an honest assessment of what prevents us from laying hold of the very truth that holds the key to life. In the following verses, look at how Paul approached his holdings.
“I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. That means I examine every "thing" carefully, holding fast to that which is good (godliness) since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." (Phil. 3:12; 1Thess. 5:21; 1 Tim 4:8). Paul would let nothing (no thing) hold him up.
The other day I was talking to one of my former students, a bright young man full of ambition. But he confesses to wasting a lot of time—video games, TV, Facebook—none of which contribute anything to his life goals. I assured him his situation is not uncommon. Our culture offers us so many empty things with which to occupy ourselves! I call it "loitering."
Did you know that several years after Joshua and Israel had moved into Canaan, there were still seven Tribes who had not yet taken possession of their portions of the Land ? (Josh. 18) So Joshua asked them, "How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord has given you?" They were still living like wanderers. Here they stood, on the edge of God’s gift to them, loitering instead of occupying.
I’m a planner by nature. I keep a tight calendar, a to-do list, and usually have a pretty good idea of what I want to accomplish each day. But when God’s plans take me in a different direction, I get disoriented and, well,discombobulated! “Discombobulated!” I'll bet that's a word you haven't heard for a while! Appropriately, it means “having self-possession upset.” There you have it: one is discombobulated when he cannot “possess” his own plans—his plans are upset!
But it’s not just my plans that are upset. I get upset with myself: “Will I ever get to the point where I can respond contentedly when He redirects me?” I know that God’s plans are my only hope for joy and fulfillment. And God knows that when my own plans are thwarted, He gets my attention; and I turn to Him. You see, He loves me too much to allow me to continue on a wrong path.
I think this idea is well-captured by Watchman Nee. “After you give yourself to the Lord, He begins to break [upset] your plans. Everything seems to go wrong, and you protest and find fault with the ways of God. This is the tragedy of many Christians. My giving of myself to the Lord must be an initial fundamental act. Then, day by day, I must go on giving to him, not finding fault with his use of me, but accepting with praise even what the flesh finds hard.”
In news commentaries I keep hearing the word “unsustainable,” meaning out of control. The national debt is unsustainable. So is the California budget. Greece is the first European nation considering bankruptcy—its debt unsustainable. Real estate values are not predicted to return to the 'highs' of 2008 until 2020. Many home-owners are “upside-down,” foreclosures inevitable, their payments unsustainable.
But let’s make this a bit more personal. Perhaps many of you are feeling like your circumstances are out of your control—the things that used to sustain you no longer do. Don’t be surprised; this is part of God’s method for preparing you for kingdom work! Before the Hebrews could go in and possess the Promised Land, God led them into the Wilderness where their faith was tested. How? by removing all the things that had sustained them in Egypt—the familiar things that comforted them and gave them a sense of control.
Too many Christians today are trying to lay claim to God’s promises, while unwilling to let go of the “old” things that sustained them—they want to keep a foot in both worlds. If we are honest, we all want to retain some self-reliance, our independence—as a fall-back position. But if we are unresponsive, the wilderness will be prolonged. When you stop trying to sustain yourself, you will discover the Christ who sustains you, the One Who holds all things together (Col. 1:17).
Years ago, a book by Robert Munger called “My Heart, Christ’s Home” had a great impact on me. The author metaphorically compares our heart to a house with many rooms where Christ gradually takes up residence, room by room, until He fully possesses the house.
Now of course none of us would intentionally save a “room” in our heart for the devil, but we may unintentionally leave a “place” where he has access. Thus, Paul warns “Do not give a place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:27). The word “place” can also be translated “spot” as in “save my spot in line,” or “room” as in “is there any room in the car for me?”
It only takes a spot in our hearts to give the devil a “foothold." And a “foothold” can grow into a “stronghold.”
This word “place” or "spot" can also be translated figuratively as an “opportunity.” Every un-crucified “spot” in our hearts gives our enemy an opportunity to bring us into temptation and sin.
Toward the end of his earthly life, Jesus said “the ruler of this world is coming, and he finds nothing in me” (John 14:0). Peter amplifies the thought, saying that Jesus is “the lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:19). There was not even one spot (place, room, opportunity) for the devil to get a foothold in Jesus’ heart.
Someday Jesus will return for a Bride that is “holy and blameless,” without “spot or wrinkle or any such thing” (Eph 5:27). We must ask ourselves if we are ready.
