Stuff

Dan Kunz

If you’ve been a reader of these blogs for any length of time, you may remember my friend, Thomas.  He’s 59 years old and has been a drug addict for most of his life.  He’s served 17 years in prison.  He lives in his car.  He receives government support because he’s HIV positive (related to his drug use).  Thomas recently spent a couple months in an inpatient treatment facility as part of a prison diversion program.  Unfortunately, because of several rule violations, he was returned to jail.  (Not surprisingly, Thomas has a problem following rules.)  As a favor to Thomas, I volunteered to drive to the facility and retrieve his belongings.  I was amazing to see how much “stuff” he had accumulated in a relatively short time.  The supervisor who helped load his possessions said a lot of people in treatment do the same thing.

When I asked my son-in-law, a drug and alcohol counselor, about it, he explained the reason.  Many drug addicts come from a difficult upbringing, and due to their addiction(s), they continue the same path as adults.  Because they’ve never had much in the way of physical possessions, when they come across something they like, something that may have value, or something to be bartered, they tend to grab on and keep it.  Have you ever seen a homeless person pushing a heaping shopping cart containing all their earthly possessions?  It’s a pretty common sight throughout America.  The reasons are probably the same.  I equate it to people who grew up during the Great Depression.  Because they grew up without much, they tended to accumulate a lot of stuff, too.

How about you?  You may not be an addict or homeless or a child of the Great Depression, but do you have a lot of stuff?  In general, many or most Americans do.  As a matter of fact, we not only fill our homes or garages with it, we even rent storage facilities to keep more stuff.  You never know, that stuff may be worth something some day!  In the meantime, we’ve spent enough money on the storage facility to offset any increase in value.

All that being said, two dangers exist with “stuff”.  First and foremost, we need to have the proper attitude toward it.  We cannot let ourselves be so attached to our possessions that they take the place of God in our lives.  Matthew 6:21 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  No amount of stuff is worth our relationship with God or even our earthly life.  People who have survived catastrophic fires, tornadoes, or floods, while standing next to what used to be their home, say, “Thank God we’re okay.  It’s only stuff.  It can be replaced.”  A second danger, if you will, of accumulating earthly possessions, is what they do to our contentment.  God wants us to be happy and content!  Chasing after stuff can ruin contentment.  1 Timothy 6:7-8 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

God shows his grace to us in many ways, not the least of which is the gift of a Savior, but he also showers us with earthly blessings.  For many of us, a lot of earthly blessings.  We just need to make sure the “stuff” doesn’t become more important than the one who gave us the “stuff”!