“He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase,” -Ecclesiastes 5:10. (RSB)
While looking at the things my parents and my in-laws left behind after their deaths, it became so clear to me that our “stuff” isn’t ours. Some of their favorite possessions bring back memories of their concern that someone might break in and steal the coin collection or the antique silverware. How much more we would rather have another day with them, than the things we inherited! How much time was spent at work in trade for some material possession? We brought nothing into this world and we take nothing out. The clothes we are buried in will soon rot away and we will eventually become dust. When one of the world’s wealthiest men in history died his accountant was asked, “How much did John D. Rockefeller leave?” His answer was, “All of it.”
We use things for a few years but we always want new, bigger, fancier things. What we have (whether it is a car, a house, clothes, jewelry) no longer satiates us so we want something more. The new cell phone will make us happy, and it does for a while, but soon a new, better phone comes out and we look at ours and it no longer brings us the satisfaction that we thought it would. I never learned all of the applications my Samsung 4 Android phone had when I upgraded to an I Phone 6. Did I need it to make calls or take better photographs? The salesman thought I did. Being caught up in Costco’s once a year deal, and with my husband’s encouragement (he got one too), I got the phone. Now I have a learning curve again and either a contract or a payment and there was nothing wrong with my old phone. I can almost hear Solomon whispering in my ear, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
It’s also clear that our “stuff” is not us. When Yahweh looks down on us will He identify us by our new phone or our new dress? He looks at our hearts and He looks at how we care about our brothers and sisters. He knows if we are hiding our light and if we are carrying out the Great Commission. He told us in Matthew 6:31-33 He would care for us and not to worry about what we eat and what we wear.
I’m not always good at following that advice and every year at the Feast of Tabernacles it becomes apparent. I usually pack more clothes than I will wear along with make-up and jewelry. I have discovered that within a few days I’m not wearing any make-up or jewelry and I just grab the first thing I see in the morning to wear. The spiritual food is what I hunger for and a lot of the food I bought at the local big box store doesn’t get eaten; I try to give it away or I have to throw it out.
Yahweh will take care of us. The Israelites probably wore the same clothes and shoes for 40 years. Yahweh sent them a food that had to have been the perfect mix of vitamins and nutrients. How much happier we would be if we, like our ancient ancestors, relied on Yahweh to take care of our needs. As our Brother David reminds us, “Yahweh is my shepherd, I shall not want.”
by: Linda Lowe
