Meaningless
We recently downsized from our home of 33 years into a much smaller home. This meant going through every nick-n-cranny of our house and determining whether to keep or get rid of things.
Let me tell you, it was eye-opening to see all of the things I have kept over the years, many I have had for decades. I reasoned with myself that someday I may need it, or they’re spare parts for something I no longer had, or they have sentimental value and I can’t possibly get rid of it. This last item was the most difficult to reconcile.
As I tried to make decisions to discard or keep, I was faced with a big problem. At first the decisions were easy and even comical when I realized how silly it was that I had kept some things for so long. But then I got to the hard stuff. You know, the ones with “sentimental value.”
After agonizing over each of my valuable items, I realized that their value was exaggerated by me, and in reality their value was meaningless. Does this sound familiar? It should, King Solomon wrote this near the end of his life (Ecclesiastes 1:2).
What he meant was that all of man’s efforts are meaningless when he leaves God out, and that there is nothing that will satisfy him outside the will of God.
I had to think long and hard about how this revelation applied to me. And then I heard God speak to me through His Word.
“You have worked for 45 years, climbing the corporate ladder, buying toys and saving money, for what? So you can leave it for someone who probably won’t value it like you did.”
No, that’s not it. The real revelation that this downsizing exercise taught me was that this stuff that I placed so much value on, actually had a stronghold on me. It’s like that old saying, “You don’t own things, things own You.”
Once I was able to fully accept this truth, I was able to finish sorting my stuff. It’s been a month now and I don’t miss any of the “valuable” stuff I discarded, and I feel much freerer!
What’s really important to me, is my relationship with God, and my relationship with my family, and a few close friends. What more do I need? I can’t think of anything!
Let me tell you, it was eye-opening to see all of the things I have kept over the years, many I have had for decades. I reasoned with myself that someday I may need it, or they’re spare parts for something I no longer had, or they have sentimental value and I can’t possibly get rid of it. This last item was the most difficult to reconcile.
As I tried to make decisions to discard or keep, I was faced with a big problem. At first the decisions were easy and even comical when I realized how silly it was that I had kept some things for so long. But then I got to the hard stuff. You know, the ones with “sentimental value.”
After agonizing over each of my valuable items, I realized that their value was exaggerated by me, and in reality their value was meaningless. Does this sound familiar? It should, King Solomon wrote this near the end of his life (Ecclesiastes 1:2).
What he meant was that all of man’s efforts are meaningless when he leaves God out, and that there is nothing that will satisfy him outside the will of God.
I had to think long and hard about how this revelation applied to me. And then I heard God speak to me through His Word.
“You have worked for 45 years, climbing the corporate ladder, buying toys and saving money, for what? So you can leave it for someone who probably won’t value it like you did.”
No, that’s not it. The real revelation that this downsizing exercise taught me was that this stuff that I placed so much value on, actually had a stronghold on me. It’s like that old saying, “You don’t own things, things own You.”
Once I was able to fully accept this truth, I was able to finish sorting my stuff. It’s been a month now and I don’t miss any of the “valuable” stuff I discarded, and I feel much freerer!
What’s really important to me, is my relationship with God, and my relationship with my family, and a few close friends. What more do I need? I can’t think of anything!
Posted in Ralph Gomez