Luke 16:13 – “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and money.”

God is good all the time, and His mercy never ends or fails.   As I went to bed, the Holy Spirit was downloading information throughout the night.  Today, as I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God, something kept echoing in my heart and mind.   What was that?   Stuff!  The Lord spoke to me about stuff.   The danger of transforming stuff into idols is more prevalent than most understand.

God’s purpose for stuff is to enhance our lives, to be used to help us navigate life’s seas and advance into His purposes.    Stuff can hold our hearts; when it does, it crowds out the Spirit of God.   Stuff is to be used, not hoarded.

Those who know me know that stuff (material things do not have a significant hold on me).   It is not because I do not value things but because I see them as tools for life, not bigger than life.   The Lord dealt with me about stuff years ago.   I realized I was keeping things I did not need or use for various reasons.   

The challenge to my heart was the Why?   The Lord caused me to realize that I gave honor to him by releasing stuff into His hands.   He taught me that stuff not used held an unwholesome place in my heart.   He challenged me with Luke 16:13 and other passages about the power of stuff and the need for an undivided heart.

I’ve been given treasured gifts only to have the Lord direct me to give them to someone in need.   They had sentimental value but not practical value.   They would make someone else’s life better, but we’re just stuff if I keep them unused.   My heart’s cry is to have an undivided heart.

The Holy Spirit has challenged me in this about trusting God.   I have said, “But I might need or use them sometime.”   Then, I was challenged with the thought, “What can God not provide?”

I’m guilty of holding on to material things for selfish reasons when there were those who desperately needed them.   If I allow anything other than God to hold my heart, it can become an idol.   If I give God my all, He will provide all I need.   He will fill my heart, and in that state of a whole heart, I have perfect peace!

I’m not saying we cannot have some things that have only intrinsic value but no practical use.   I am saying we dare not let those things have such a grip on us that we cannot let them go.   Then, they rise to a place that crowds God out.   I want treasure in heaven, not just on earth.   When God is first, nothing in this world can hold our hearts, and we open the door to God’s open-handed provision.

I pray for God to become more and more important to me.   Lord, do not let me allow anything to have a controlling hold on my heart but You!

As you become free from the unwholesome hold of ‘stuff,’ I pray you will become totally free!   May you always soar like an eagle!