Parable of the Garage Sale – Stuff Is Not Enough

Gadgets and “collectables”, to bring us earthly pleasure,
We surround ourselves with these… that we consider treasure.
Col 3:2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Ever on a mission, to fill each empty space,
We can’t resist a bargain… find a SALE, and off we race.
Pro 17:24 A discerning man keeps wisdom in view,
but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth.
“I’ve always wanted one of these”, and “look how much I saved!”
That moment of euphoria… convinced we’re not enslaved.
Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters…
You cannot serve both God and Money.”
How is it that these items, when purchased, were a must,
Become somewhat annoying… every time we dust?
Pro 11:28 Whoever trusts in his riches will fall…
As time goes by we realize we’re running out of room.
Once treasures, now they’re clutter… delight turns into gloom.
Job 36:19 “Would your wealth or even all your mighty efforts
sustain you so you would not be in distress?
So all the stuff we once hauled in, we’re hauling out the door,
Time for a garage sale… we don’t need these anymore.
Ecc 2:26 To the man who pleases Him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and
happiness, but to the sinner He gives the task of gathering and
storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God.
This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Much to our delight, folks come and haul it all away.
We ponder what to buy… with all the money made that day.
1 Tim 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and
pierced themselves with many griefs.
And so, the dance continues, our collections ever growing,
Cars won’t fit in their garage… the closets? Overflowing!
Pro 22:3 A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge,
but the simple keep going and suffer for it.
Then comes the realization, this house isn’t big enough,
We’ll have to get a bigger one… we need more room for stuff.
Luke 12:16-18 And He told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich
man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have
no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down
my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and
my goods…”Luke 12:20-21 “But God said to him, ‘You fool!
This very night your life will be demanded from you.
Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?
This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not
rich toward God.”
So we shove it all in boxes, for the hauling and the stacking,
Of course, we’ll have a moving sale… we’re overwhelmed with packing.
Ecc 7:12 Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of
knowledge is this: that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.
It’s time to re-evaluate, the treasures of each person,
The inventory massive… soon the attitudes will worsen.
Pro24:3 By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is
established; Through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and
beautiful treasures.
Pro 15:16 Better a little with the fear of the LORD
than great wealth with turmoil.
Deciding what should stay or go, each temper quickly flares.
It’s obvious to each… my stuff’s more valuable than theirs.
Ja 4:1-3 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come
from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t
get it… You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask,
you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives,
that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
Once moved, it’s quite amazing, that before we’re done unpacking,
We’re desperate to collect more stuff… we now believe we’re lacking.
Luke 12:15 Then He said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard
against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the
abundance of his possessions.”
“Tomorrow I’ll get organized”, the mantra of the day.
Then I’ll have time for other things… then I’ll have time to pray.
Ps 62:10 …though your riches increase, do not set you heart on them.
Meanwhile, in the corner, a pile of boxes stacked,
The ones, that since we moved… we never managed to unpack.
Pro 16:16 How much better to get wisdom than gold,
to choose understanding rather than silver!
The all consuming quest for more, we won’t admit defeat.
Filling up our lives with stuff… that we would feel complete.
Ecc 5:10 Whoever loves money never has money enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
Our hearts are not unlike the seed that’s sown among the thorn,
Between the worries of the world… and riches, we are torn.
Matt 13:22 “The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns
is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the
deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
Hearts and minds held captive, could this be Satan’s ploy?
Earthly treasures, fleeting pleasures… meant to steal our joy.
Ecc 5:19-20 Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and
enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work – this is
a gift from God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps
him occupied with gladness of heart.
Scripture says, where treasure is, our hearts will also be.
Hidden in a box… the light, that’s meant to shine through me.
Matt 6:19-21 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth… But store up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy,
and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
More concerned with what we have, instead of who we are.
Not considering the Potter… what He placed inside the jar.
2Cor 4:6-7 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His
light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this
treasure in jars of clay to show that this
all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
Isaiah 64:8 … We are the clay, You are the potter;
we are all the work of Your hand.
Priorities misplaced, along the stressful path we trod.
Seeking wealth and trinkets… instead of seeking God.
Pro 30:8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty
nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have
too much and disown You and say, ‘Who is the Lord?”…
Provision by my hand, produces only emptiness.
The one who seeks the Father… is the one that’s truly blessed.
Pro 8:10-11 Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather
than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies,
and nothing you desire can compare with her.
Lord, let us see how meaningless, are these, for which we thirst.
Let our path lead straight to You… and always put You first.
Ecc 2:11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and
what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless,
a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
Help us be the soil in which Your seed would strongly root.
A planting of Your splendor… a witness, bearing fruit.
Matt 13:23 “But the man who received the seed that fell on good soil
is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop,
yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Isaiah 61:3 … They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD for the display of His splendor.

Received by Cheryl Winchester
Scriptures from NIV