Saturday, September 24, 2005

We moved last week and could not believe the amount of junk we have accumulated over the past year. When we moved from Louisville last year we down-sized...in a really big way! I gave away hundreds of books from my library, gave 16 notebooks of sermon material and literally threw away thousands of cassette tapes I had bought over the years...and now a year later, we've still got junk. I think there's a spiritual connotation here, that probably connects with Hebrews 12 where it talks about laying aside the weights and sins that so easily beset us...they do easily accumulate don't they? My wife constantly presses me about the piles of mail, magazines, tapes, and whatever else I leave laying on the counter...sort of like the Holy Spirit, checking me on my attitude, my need to worship when I'm in a mood, and all the other stuff I allow to pile up or stack on my spiritual counter.

2 comments:

Darrell said...

I have thought about this for several days and decided now to resond. I had to laugh as I read the part about moving and getting rid of so much stuff. Man, can I relate. We were the same way when we moved here just over a year ago. We gave stuff away, took things to the Salvation Army and still had a mountain of stuff waiting for the trash man to haul away. Just a few weeks ago, I was going through our house, and I said to my wife, "Where did all this STUFF come from?" It is amazing how fast it accumulates.

Yep, it ties in spiritually all right. I have thought about this so much this past week about how many "things" accumulate within me that hinder me from being as close to the Lord as I need to. They are not all bad things either. There are things that are normal for most people, but they have gotten in the way and they pull me aside. That is why I have learned that periodically I must take a week away from the computer, or television, or even from reading books and magazines other than my Bible. Even the day to day affairs of being "pastor" sometimes get in the way, and I am learning that from time to time I need to leave the cell phone off, leave the books and tapes at home, and get away with the Lord for a day or two, to just spend some time with Him... to just spend some time in worship, not necessarily wanting Him to speak to me, but for me to minister to Him.

Pastor Jeff said...

I can certainly identify. For us, all that we had progressed from a couple trips with my old pickup, to the small U-Haul, to the mid-size U-Haul! When we move again, we may just need an 18-wheeler! And yes, it's mostly attic-clogging junk. But, you and Darrell have already preached that message. God bless.