“Our Lord did not teach detachment from other things: He taught attachment to Himself. Jesus was not a recluse. He did not cut Himself off from society, He was amazingly in and out among the ordinary things of life; but He was disconnected fundamentally from it all. He was not aloof, but He lived in another world.”
Oswald Chambers
Matthew 6:19-34
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,”
If I stop and reflect right here at the end of the first phrase of this passage, this is a concept so contrary to the thinking of the world, of myself, of just about anyone I know. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,” yet if I go look in ANY cupboard, closet or drawer in my house, I find collections of things. I understand that I need to have food stocked in my pantry and freezer to be prepared and to make the best use of my time so that I don’t have to go to the store as frequently, and some things I buy on sale to be wise steward, but sometimes even that gets out of control.
I’ve noticed it more since my husband has been laid off, that I’m always trying to make sure we have enough food. It actually didn’t occur to me until I came home from the store one day and was putting meat into the freezer that I had bought on sale and could barely fit it all in there with all of the other things I already had in the freezer. Right then I realized that I was trying to take care of all our needs regarding our food. That doesn’t sound so bad, except that He says, “And my God will supply all your needs. According to His glorious riches” (Philippians 4:19). And when I looked in my freezer and saw all that we had in there, I realized how abundantly He has been providing. So, I made a little deal with myself not to buy any more meat until I had used up all of the meat we had in the freezer and see how that went. Not that we ate meat every day, but we have eaten well every day, and I went more than a month without needing to buy any meat.
I actually think I’d like to do something similar to that, but include my children and husband in on it. I would like to challenge us to not buy anything except fresh fruit and veggies until we empty out the freezer completely, and see how creative we can be to use what He has already given us. I actually, think it will be kind of fun to see what we do and what God does. I’m going to present the idea to the family at dinner tonight. I'll keep you posted on what we do:)
Also, I've been thinking that I need to sell some stuff on ebay; stuff that is just extra clutter in our lives. I figure that I should try to sell it on ebay and see if I can make some money since we aren't making enough to cover our bare minimum expenses right now while my husband is growing his new business. Do any of you who have sold on ebay have any advice or help to offer me? I sold one thing on ebay 3 years ago and had a bad experience, so I am fearful of doing this. Being fearful of doing this is another reason why I need to do it.
Sole Deo Gloria!
WP Stacey
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