What's Spending You?

How many things do you own? I know, that's a silly question. If you're like me, you have no idea. Shoes alone would be hard to count. Through a mere 18 years of my lifetime, I've accumulated so many things that I'm pretty sure when I move into my dorm, my room will still look lived in. I have a closet and two dressers that are all overflowing, no matter how much I try to get rid of. And it's not hard to accumulate a lot of material items; after all Amazon has two day shipping and I live within 10 minutes of a Meijer, a Walmart and a Kroger. I know they're called grocery stores, but let's be honest, they've got clothes, toys, decor and more; one could spend hours in there. Items on sale encourage us to buy what we never needed, but it was a deal, so of course it's all right! But I'm not so sure about that anymore.

In three weeks, I'm moving into a shoe-box, and that means I'll need to do some downsizing and reevaluating on what I've bought and if I really need it. Well, it turns out that I don't need a lot, I want a lot. And this doesn't just become a problem with downsizing, but also a problem with God. We've all heard from the bible that we're not supposed have idols, and I'm all good there; I don't pray to my American Eagle jeans and my Converse shoes, but maybe that's not all we should be thinking about. There's a story in Luke about a rich man who wants to know what he should do to inherit eternal life. Jesus tells him he must obey the 10 commandments and the man said he was good in that realm, so he wanted to know what else he had to do. Jesus replied "There is still one thing you haven't done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Now why was it such a big deal for this man to give up his possessions? What harm can some jewelry and trinkets do? The real problem is where we hold these items, are they up on a pedestal? Do we think they define us and give us worth? Do they detract from the time we spend with God? As the great theologian Macklemore said, "things are just things, they don't make you who you are. Can't pack up a U-Haul and take it with you when you're gone." And isn't that the truth?

So it's time to do some cleaning; of my room, of my life, of my relationship with God. Maybe I shouldn't be spending bunches of money on things that give no eternal satisfaction. Now don't get me wrong, I still love my clothes and I will continue to shop, but maybe more because I need it and less because I want more cute clothes. And if I don't wear it, why keep it? There are so many people out there with so much less than us, and yet what we have is never enough. Maybe it's time to get off my phone and into my bible; money isn't the only thing we spend, there's also time. It's about time to make a change and I'm sure I'll thank me for it later.