Our things own us.
Don’t believe it? Think of what we give up managing our possessions. We spend hours on the lawn. Cleaning the house? Yeah, hours there, too. Even if we don’t repair the car ourselves, we call the service department, take the car in, and wait on it to be fixed. Time, hours eaten out of our day.
We think a weekend home is what we need, a place to relax and get away from it all. Then we arrive and must clean the gutters, air the bedding, and get the utility service out to fill the oil tank.
Stuff doesn’t make us happy. Large, showy houses aren’t the path to peace and tranquility. Fine cars don’t make for satisfaction. We can be wealthy and still be unhappy.
Proverbs 27:20 sums it up in only a couple of lines:
“Sheol (Death) and Abaddon (Destruction) are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man.”
There’s never a moment when the grave says, “No more. I’m full. Everyone from here on out gets to live. I’m out of space.”
Destruction, also. Everything deteriorates with time and usage. Weather happens, bringing the fist of nature against what we’ve built. Rust, rot, and age destroy most things.
A better focus is to follow Christ.
1 John 2:16-17 tells us the only lasting thing is the will of the Father:
“For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
If we’re lonely, waiting for marriage, or our children have left us bereft, chasing after things won’t fill our emptiness. Human desire, whether for things, sensations, or personal fulfillment, is never satisfied. These things leave us empty and burned out, greedily searching for more.
Christ is our only permanent satisfaction. In him, doing his will, we will find the peace that lets us release the time-robbing things of this world.
When we relax in Christ, we will abide forever in his cradling arms.
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Code: FGO.I.03.17e.vp.esv