Possessions - Do They Own You?

      By Fern Horst

"Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!" (Mark 10:21-24)

Jesus has a way of knowing the very things in our lives that take precedence over Him, and then asks us to be willing to walk away from them. He doesn't require all of us to sell all that we have and give the proceeds to the poor, but He does ask that we be willing to do so if that is what is needed to follow Him.

Recently I have become aware of the way in which the things we own end up owning us. As soon as we bring an object into our home we become responsible for that object. We must find a place to keep it. We may need to clean it regularly, or move it so that we can clean behind or under it. If we move to another home we must pack it and transport it. And if we no longer want it we must find a way to dispose of it.

When we realize that our time is the Lord's, the time and energy we give to possessions can become a serious problem. When we have so many possessions that we spend most of our resources to maintain them with little left for serving Christ and His Kingdom, our possessions have come to own us in a detrimental way. It was this attachment to possessions that caused the rich man who came to Jesus to sadly turn away from following Him. He allowed his possessions to determine his eternal destiny.

We probably are all aware of the teachings in I Corinthians 7 regarding the fact that singles are able to serve the Lord without the distraction of family responsibilities. But unmarried people can have just as much of a problem with distraction as married people when it comes to possessions. It is a danger for all of us to accumulate things that require us to spend most of our time dealing with stuff.

But possessions can just as easily be assets for our service in Christ's Kingdom. Big rooms, many dishes, and plenty of comfortable chairs come in handy when God asks someone to open their home to others. Large collections of books help equip pastors, teachers and counselors in their Kingdom work. Computer equipment makes the work easier for those who write or oversee ministries. Our home decorations can remind us and our guests of God's faithfulness and the love of those He has placed in our lives. In these cases and many others possessions become tools in our relationship with Christ. Our time and energy devoted to their guardianship is part of our service to Him.

The key is to choose to own or not own items according to God's calling on our lives. If anything hinders our calling, I believe His requirement to us is the same as it was to the rich man: get rid of it. If it is an asset to His service, we must take special care of it.

"Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life." (Mark 10:28-30)

© 2007 Fern Horst

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