A Matter of Faith...

By Carol Round

Can’t Take it with You

“For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.”
1 Timothy 6:7 (NIV)

Each weekend, especially when the weather starts to warm, signs start popping up everywhere. People are getting rid of their junk. It doesn’t matter whether you call it a garage sale, a yard sale or a rummage sale, people like searching for great buys. As the old adage goes, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.”

Our church recently held its annual rummage sale to benefit Heifer International. Each time we have a sale, I am amazed at the number of items donated. Like most people, we have too much “stuff.”

I can recall my mother’s annual sales that caused disagreements because my father didn’t want to contribute anything. Mom’s philosophy was “if you haven’t used it or worn it in a year, it goes in the sale.”

Dad didn’t agree. He refused to part with any item that he might use in the future—even if it was rusty, bent, broken or obsolete.

A friend and I were recently discussing this American obsession with “stuff.” She made a statement that makes sense to me. She said, “We spend the first half of our lives collecting stuff and the second half getting rid of it.”

Why is that? I think, as we grow older, we realize that when we have too much “stuff,” it crowds out the important things in our life, like friends and family. It also puts a barrier between our Savior and us.

One of my favorite television ministers made a good point about this issue. To illustrate her talk, she had a clothes rack on stage with a variety of her own outfits for different occasions. As she removed each one from its hanger—as if to add it to a pile of clothing she wanted to give away—she would make statements like, “Aw, I can’t part with this. I wore this 10 years ago to my daughter’s wedding,” “I’d forgotten I had this black dress. But I have so many in my closet I couldn’t find it,” or “This outfit doesn’t fit anymore, but I might lose weight, so I’d better keep it.”

By the time she went through the rack, she realized she had an excuse for hanging on to each article of clothing that she had considered giving away. Her point? We use excuses to hang onto things that we need to let go of—not just stuff.

When our attitudes don’t fit anymore, when we have outgrown our lifestyles and when we need to give up habits that hold us back from being our best for the Lord, we need to clean out our lives. We need to give it all to God and start fresh with Him.

When I think about our physical birth, I am reminded that we came into this world with nothing but the grace of our Lord. We don’t like to think about death, but when I do, I remember that I will take nothing with me to the grave but His grace.

A collection of Carol Round’s most popular faith-based columns is now available in book form. For more information, readers can reach her at carolaround@yahoo.com.