Treasure

I read a book by a lady named Mari Kondo that outlined a new way of tidying your home and thereby changing your life. One of the biggest points of the book is that you need to go through your possessions one by one and keep those things that spark joy. What does that mean exactly? Well, in some cases it is difficult to determine because the practical side can take over, but her point is to surround yourself by items that bring you joy, not things that just are on a shelf because they look cool. We are a culture of consumers who impulse buy things we don’t need. Our homes are filled to bursting with clothing we don’t wear, piles of junk – from cooking utensils to tools to entertainment stuff, we are drowning in stuff. So she offers a solution to helping people rid themselves of the weight, anxiety, and pressure all that stuff causes.

I was talking to some friends about this the other day, and one of them said, “We need to get rid of this and that,” and the other one said, “No we can’t! That’s something meaningful.” To which I said, “How much do you really treasure something you say is meaningful when it’s in a pile on the floor of your basement and you haven’t looked at it in a few years!” They replied, “Well, I guess when you put it like that, I don’t really treasure it at all.” It’s a question I had to ask myself in the process and a question that isn’t necessarily an easy answer all the time. I had stuff packed in boxes from childhood or just put in the closet that I had not looked at in several years. Sure, it was organized looking, but in truth it was me avoiding dealing with it. What do I treasure? Is it stuff from days past? Can I let it go? When Paul talks about throwing off weights so that we can run fast, what does he mean? Could he be talking about materialism? Olympic runners don’t wear a lot of clothing in a race. They are stripped to the minimum – their shoes are super light, and they are focused on one thing – that gold medal at the end of the line. They have trimmed the fat, shed the weight, and are running lean.

Jesus talks about storing our treasure in heaven where things don’t get rusty and moldy and where they can’t be stolen away. This treasure can not be kept in boxes or storage units and it’s value is far more than what’s currently sitting in your garage, basement or the closet under the stairs. And Jesus then says something interesting… your heart will follow your treasure. You know why it is so hard to let go of stuff sometimes? Because you heart is following that stuff you think you treasure. It’s like when Jesus said to the rich man, sell all and follow me and the guy walked away sadly…. why? Because he had many possessions and was unwilling to part with them. His heart was with his stuff and the thought of getting rid of all of it and go out on a wild venture with this radical guy was more than he could deal with it. But let’s not be too quick to judge this guy. How many of us could let go of all that stuff that we say we treasure? Would you be ok with selling all your furniture, your big TV, your car, your boat? Could you be a minimalist for Jesus, essentially?

Stuff has a hold on us and letting go to pursue running the race is not always easy, but when we come to the realization that it’s the eternal stuff that is significant and not the stuff here on earth… that’s the shift that we need to have in our hearts and minds.