Yesterday was literally a day of rest. I didn’t do anything other than attending church, making and eating lunch and supper, lounging in an easy chair and reading and watching a hockey game. It had an interesting effect. When I came into my studio this morning after not being in it for an entire day, what I normally don’t notice (because I see it all the time) suddenly stood out. What a clutter of stuff!
My first resolve is to toss half of it and get the remainder into some resemblance of order. If this is a reflection of my life, I’m a total disaster. I know ‘creativity’ can be messy, but this is beyond excuse. I’ve too much crammed into this room.
Today’s reading from God is Enough talks about the tribe of Levi in the Old Testament which happens to coincide with today’s read-the-Bible-in-a-year passages. When God instructed Joshua to divide up the land, Joshua 13:33 says, “But to the tribe of Levi Moses had given no inheritance; the Lord God of Israel was their inheritance, as He had said to them.”
The devotional author writes of how amazing this is—having God as their inheritance. The other tribes received land, but the Levites were content to go without any other possessions but God. It is like Paul’s description of himself and those who ministered with him in 2 Corinthians 6:10: They were “always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” They possessed Christ and that was enough.
Compared to Christ, what is all this stuff worth? Eventually “moth and rust” or the corruption of time and decay will level it, if thieves or something else doesn’t get to it first (Matthew 6:19-20). Stuff doesn’t last, but even if it did, I cannot take it with me. When I die, who will it belong to after me? And do I, or will I, care?
The devotional wisely points out another snare: “When our hands are full of our own things, we cannot possibly get possession of the things of God.” Stuff is a distraction. I came through my upbringing with the idea that if I own something, I am responsible for using it wisely. If I cannot do that, then it should belong to someone who will. If possessions become dust collectors, then I’m not being wise with what I have. I can smell the dust in my studio, but besides that, I feel the pressure of having it and not using it.
The rest of the house is not like that. My granddaughter ‘accuses’ me of being the cleanest person she has ever known. While I don’t think that of myself, and our decor is not minimalist, we are working on clearing all unneeded or unused items from kitchens to closets. I feel great freedom in uncluttered spaces.
Another danger of stuff is glorying in my possessions. The devotional writer believes that until we have been deprived of them, our human nature is so constituted that we cannot help glorying in them. This applies to more than physical possessions. That writer gives the example that as long as a Christian feels wise or strong or rich in spiritual things, that Christian will almost inevitably glory in his strength, wisdom, or riches.
This is why God warned Jeremiah, “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight” (Jeremiah 9:23-24).
The devotional ends by saying that if our stuff is taken away from us, we will be driven to glory in the Lord alone simply because there will be nothing else for us to glory in, but I’m thinking that the Lord would far rather we choose Him as our source of delight, not be forced into it. He isn’t against me possessing things as long as those things don’t possess me.
While I could be making excuses, I can think of one reason why I’ve not cleared the clutter. I can sit in this messy space reading Scripture and glorying in my Creator to the point that I don’t notice the mess. I’m thinking about God, not my abused filing system, the piles of paper on the desk, or the overflow of books and fabric and art supplies and electronic gizmos. All of it fades into the background in light of the wonder of my God. Nevertheless, this is likely just an excuse because I cannot pray in this room. I’m too distracted. I have to get out of here and go outside or somewhere else.
So all of this has a practical application. Besides glorying in the Lord today (and certainly not all this stuff), I’m convinced that He is telling me that it is time to clear the clutter. In the back of my mind I’m also thinking that He created the universe out of nothing—so who knows what creativity could come out of this space if it were much closer to ‘nothing’ than being so full of everything? I want to find out.
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