Are You Owned By Your Possessions?
"Where your treasure is, there your heart will be". Are your possessions owning you or are you their owner? See how to differentiate where you stand here and see what God has to say about it. Don’t let your heart end up "moth eaten" – as possession eventually do.
There is nothing wrong in possessing things … as long as you are the one who possesses them and not the other way around- that is them possessing you. Yet, it is very easy to fall in this trap, you think you are the owner and it seems so, yet, they are the ones that "own" you so to speak. This is very visible when we lose money or other kind of materials from smaller to bigger (a house, a car, etc.).
Money and goods are something we need to survive, yet when our joy is directly linked to them and depending on them, we might realize that the real owners are the assets we have and not ourselves, as it should be.
The truth is that God is interested to bring us to a maturity level where we are no longer upset about losing money and no longer happy about gaining them. I mean that state where our inward joy does not depend nor can be influenced by the material things we own.
Jesus life was not gravitating around material possessions! Let’s see what HE told a business man:
"… a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments." "Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?" Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?"
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?"
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first."
When you think about it, it is true that we all leave this world empty handed, regardless of the amount of reaches we’ve gathered. But some of God’s people were rich! Abraham was a wealthy man, Job as well, yet God is interested in your heart. If your heart is stuck with your material possessions, your heart is stuck in the wrong place. Remember that everything in this world is subject to change, reaches are subject to decaying, clothes end up moth-eaten, therefore, is it smart to put our heart on top of a bunch of garbage, regardless how big it might be?
Jesus knows how tempted we are to gather what our physical eyes can see, yet HE clearly shows the real perspective of life in this parable:
"The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’
But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.
Do Not Worry !
Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.
…"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Luke 12: 16-21, 22, 32-34
Money and goods are something we need to survive, yet when our joy is directly linked to them and depending on them, we might realize that the real owners are the assets we have and not ourselves, as it should be.
The truth is that God is interested to bring us to a maturity level where we are no longer upset about losing money and no longer happy about gaining them. I mean that state where our inward joy does not depend nor can be influenced by the material things we own.
Jesus life was not gravitating around material possessions! Let’s see what HE told a business man:
"… a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments." "Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?" Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?"
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?"
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first."
When you think about it, it is true that we all leave this world empty handed, regardless of the amount of reaches we’ve gathered. But some of God’s people were rich! Abraham was a wealthy man, Job as well, yet God is interested in your heart. If your heart is stuck with your material possessions, your heart is stuck in the wrong place. Remember that everything in this world is subject to change, reaches are subject to decaying, clothes end up moth-eaten, therefore, is it smart to put our heart on top of a bunch of garbage, regardless how big it might be?
Jesus knows how tempted we are to gather what our physical eyes can see, yet HE clearly shows the real perspective of life in this parable:
"The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’
But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.
Do Not Worry !
Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.
…"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Luke 12: 16-21, 22, 32-34
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