And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
— Luke 12:15
My wife and I recently downsized our housing by almost half the square footage we were once living in. As we began to pack up our old house, we came to the realization that over the nearly two years we had lived there together, a lot of unnecessary things that we never used had accumulated throughout the house. Our guest room had become a storage space that we would periodically clean (aka stuff things into the guest closet) if we had family or friends that would be staying the night with us.
During the moving process, we began to compile all the things we once thought would give us satisfaction, and it turned into almost three trips of cars loaded down with donations. The material possessions that we once thought would make our house better or prettier are now in the hands of someone who hopefully truly needs those items.
Our desire to continue to take in more leads us away from the one prized possession we should be seeking more of: Jesus. The constant urge to fill our lives with more money, more house or more food can lead into a spiraling downfall of our relationship with the Creator of all the things we long for. Being in possession of these things is not where our relationship takes its turn for the worse, but when we begin to search for joy in them is when we get lost in it all.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
— Matthew 6:19–21
Jesus speaks of the treasures we find on Earth in the Sermon on the Mount. Let this be a great reminder of where our treasure should be found. He was speaking these words just a few years before he would be crucified to cover the weight of our sins, including the idea of finding our treasure outside of him. When Jesus carried his cross to Golgotha, he knew that this was the ultimate sacrifice to save us from all of the struggles we would endure. He died and rose three days later so that we would no longer have to feel the longing for more of anything other than him. When the weight of his death and resurrection is known to you, you realize that more of anything else will never satisfy your earthly desires.