This past weekend I did some Spring Cleaning or, in other words, I sorted through accumulated excess of dust, clothes, odds and ends, ect. It was a very accomplishing and very tiring task. As I sorted through all my stuff I naturally asked myself, “Just how did you manage to accrue all this stuff?!” Which is when I realized, I accumulate more than I need to ensure that I will never be in need.
For example, take my closet-full of clothes – ¼ of it I wear consistently, ¼ I wear occasionally, ¼ I plan to wear when the time is right and the stars align in perfect harmony, and the last ¼ I embarrassingly don’t know exists. Yet, I hold on to ALL of it. Why? Well, just in case…but of course! If I give away a sweater…what am I going to do when my other two sweaters fail me? (Humor me here!)
Ownership is comforting.
As Jon Forman writes:
When success is equated with excess
The ambition for excess wrecks us
As top of the mind becomes the bottom line
When success is equated with excess
Success and Excess: The only similarity between these words should be their pronunciation, however we have ascribed much more commonalities to them.
To me, success is to not be in need. I have allowed myself to believe that accumulating an excessive amount of clothing will eliminate my need to further acquire clothes. I am not only comforted by my large sweater collection, but I am in control because of it! While this sounds like a wonderfully economical plan, my intentions are not kingdom focused. Living for the kingdom (God’s kingdom) means that you are not hung up on yesterday or tomorrow. My sweater collection makes me feel secure and ready for tomorrow. But, I think God would look at it and say, “Seeing as you can not wear all three sweaters at once, why not give the other two away to people that are in need today?”
Our Lord is called, Jehovah Jireh, God is Our Provider. Matthew six is not just a command, it’s a promise! God commands us to not worry about our clothing, or anything else. He invites us to make his kingdom our worry. And if we will, he promises to make our worries his worries.
Success and transgress: Now there is a combo that has more in common than their pronunciation. Yet it is only through the blood of Christ that these two words came together. Christ successfully removed our transgressions. And, if he can take upon our need to be pure and holy, can he not clothe us and feed us?
True story: I can remember a few days in March last year that I wore my winter coat (I was still living in Texas at this time!). So you can imagine how anxious I felt when we decided to move up north (or as they say up there, to the Midwest)! Before I left home some friends from Texas offered to buy me a nice winter coat. But God asked me to trust him, which I did. I refused the offer and came to Deerfield with a very limited winter wardrobe. And lo and behold…I was abundantly blessed with all the clothes I needed to survive my first winter (which included one of Chicago’s worst blizzards in history!). God is good provider!
Matthew 6:19: Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also….And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
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