Dust-catchers and "keepers"

One display shelf of many at one thrift store

Knick-knacks, trinkets, “tchotches,” baubles, dolls and collections of every sort—inevitably they find themselves abandoned on a “for sale” table. I admit that I have some “trinkets” around, like a few pieces of my late mother’s cobalt blue Depression glass and a palm-size “Winnie the Pooh” from the estate of a friend who loved me unconditionally. I could probably fill a table with such things that have personal connections. But I don’t like to dust “stuff.”  It’s hard for me to love “stuff” that doesn’t love me back.

Especially when I tag along on my husband’s visits to yard sales and thrift stores, and I walk right past the tables with unwanted trinkets, I think of Jesus’ lessons about wealth and “stuff.”  In His Sermon on the Mount, He reminded listeners that earthly treasures are vulnerable to moth, rust, and theft (Matthew 6:19-21).  I might add, fire, remembering the hundreds of families an hour’s drive north of my hometown who lost everything in this summer’s massive fires.  That included our 74-year-old bachelor friend. All he had—including family heirloom quilts, photos, his father’s passed-down tools—incinerated in minutes.

Jesus also had hard words for people who wanted more and more. When a man came to him seeking an advocate in an inheritance situation, He answered with a parable about a greedy man who kept putting up storehouses for all his grain and goods. This makes one think about the proliferation of storage units in our times for people who have too much “stuff.” It’s also the thinking behind this framed cross-stitch my husband found at a thrift store: “She who dies with the most fabric wins.” He bought it thinking of the many boxes and bags of fabric scraps generously passed my way by those who heard that I was sewing baby blankets for hospitals to give needy families. Because we live in a small house, and my “sewing storage” was confined to a box under a bed, I sewed and donated the blankets as quickly as I could. So no, the cross-stitch wasn’t “me.” I have it in a “to donate” box. J

Back to Mr. Greedy, Jesus answered by warning the crowd, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” The writer of Hebrews emphasized the same: “Keep yourselves free from the love of money and be content with what you have” (Hebrews 13:5). “Too much” crosses the line to hoarding.

 

So, are there legitimate “keepers” in God’s viewpoint?  Not surprisingly, the Bible gives several suggestions.

*God’s Word. “Keep my words and store up my commands within you” (Proverbs 7:1, also Proverbs 2:1).
*Purity. “Keep yourself pure” (1 Timothy 5:22).  This is also expressed as a “keep from”: “Keep yourself from idols” (1 John 5:21). “Keep…from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27).
*Spiritual fervor. “Keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” (Romans 12:11).
These don’t take up shelf space, only heart space.  And a heart full of the things of God is the best “full” of all.