If we aren’t willing to lose or sacrifice our precious possessions for Christ’s Sake at any moment with no hesitation, then we’re too attached to the thing. The possession has become (or is becoming) an idol in our life. And the Spiritual weight of it is slowing us down, holding us back from following Christ when He calls!!
Hello Readers, hope all’s well. Time for another #shorts post.
If you follow my blog on a regular basis you may remember things I’ve written about playing guitar. I play guitar in a Christian band, which is a real blessing to be able to do because it’s so enjoyable. And I love to play the guitar in any context.
Note what I said: I love to play guitar. Do I love my guitar, the instrument itself?? Nope. I see it as it is—a tool; blocks of wood put together and stuffed with electronics. I like my guitar and don’t want to lose it, but I have no sentimental attachment or emotional connection with it. Y’know, because it’s an inanimate object and not a person.
Most will understand and agree with my attitude. But did you know there are also people who have a very strong sentimental attachment to their guitar?? It’s such a strong sentimental attachment that it becomes a pseudo-emotional connection. I say ‘pseudo’ because a true emotional connection is impossible with anything that’s not a person or live animal.
This is over-attachment to an inanimate object. Over-attachment to a thing of this world. I say one of the first major symptoms of having this over-attachment is naming a guitar. Yes it’s true, people do name their guitars. Not me though, I can’t do that because I don’t see my guitar as having a personality of its own. Y’know, because it’s an inanimate object and not a person.
Besides guitars, people also name other prized possessions like guns, cars, and more.
If by the Grace of God we’ve been given something nice, like a guitar, we should thank God for it and enjoy the blessing He gave us. There’s nothing wrong with having a high-quality guitar or anything else, and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the thing either. But when we love that thing, when we value it too much, then it’s a problem. Because now that object is taking on the characteristics of an idol.
And on this point, we have specific warnings from Scripture not to do this very thing. We aren’t supposed to get attached to any thing of this world (object), even if we value it or like it. So that’s the topic for today.
Loving what Can’t Love back
Let’s start with the most famous warning against loving precious objects, the things of the world. This warning is of course in 1 John 2:15-17. Don’t love the world or anything in it, because this world and everything in it will disappear. It’s temporary, it’s all temporary, everything. But if we Love God and do His Will instead, we will remain forever.
(15) Don’t love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them. (16) Everything that is in the world—the craving for whatever the body feels, the craving for whatever the eyes see and the arrogant pride in one’s possessions—is not of the Father but is of the world. (17) And the world and its cravings are passing away, but the person who does the will of God remains forever.
1 John 2:15-17 (CEB)
Naming our guitar, gun, car, or whatever precious thing we have is showing too much love to a thing of the world. It’s showing too much love to an inanimate object made by human hands. It is correct to respect, value, and care for these things, especially because they’re quite expensive. But respect, value, and care for is the end of it. These objects don’t deserve love because they can’t love us back!!
At the end of the day, we have to look at these valuables as the objects they are. A gun is an object made of metal. A guitar is a few blocks of wood with electronics inside. A car is also an object. And so on and so forth. All these things are tools meant for the purpose they were designed for. It’s no problem to prefer one tool over another, or to appreciate an especially useful or high-quality tool. But what kind of person gets attached to their tools?? That’s going too far.
If we aren’t willing to lose or sacrifice our precious possessions for Christ’s Sake at any moment with no hesitation, then we’re too attached to the thing. The possession has become (or is becoming) an idol in our life. And the Spiritual weight of it is slowing us down, holding us back from following Christ when He calls!!
We see this same idea in Matthew 19, the famous encounter between Jesus and the young rich man. Everyone knows this scene well. Jesus told the young noble if he wanted to be “complete” (sometimes translated as “perfect,” but the meaning of the Greek word is like “complete” or “whole”), he should sell everything he owned, give it to the poor and follow Jesus. But the young noble wasn’t willing to do that—or at least he wasn’t right then at that moment, we don’t know if he did later. The young man’s problem was that he (for the moment) loved his possessions, and didn’t want to give them up. Not even when Jesus called Him.
How many of us are the same way?? Are we all ready to part with our favorite guitar (etc., etc.) the moment Jesus asks, so we can be His Disciple?? If the answer is no or if we hesitate too long, we’re making the same mistake as the young rich man in Matthew 19.
(20) The young man replied, “I’ve kept all these. What am I still missing?”
Matthew 19:20-22 (CEB)
(21) Jesus said, “If you want to be complete, go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come follow me.”
(22) But when the young man heard this, he went away saddened, because he had many possessions.
What a tragedy it would be to miss out on Christ’s Call on our lives all so we can hold on to our prized possessions—inanimate objects, tools and toys which will disappear along with this temporary world and everything in it.
Put Possessions in their Place
Anyone who’s named their guitar (etc., etc.) must un-name it.
Anyone who prizes their possession so much they can’t bear the thought of giving it up, must think about life without it. At least the more they think about life without their precious toy, the more they’ll realize they’ll be fine without it.
Our goal is to be ready and willing to give up any of these possessions without a moment’s hesitation when Jesus asks us to. And He may ask us to if our possessions hold too large a place in our heart. Inanimate tools, no matter how high-quality they are, don’t deserve any place in our heart. Only God, people, and finally animals belong there.
Sometimes people have a sentimental attachment to things because they received it from someone important, someone no longer living. In that case the attachment is understandable. But even then, we must be willing to give up whatever it is if Jesus asks. It helps to remember that the inherited guitar (etc., etc.) is not the person who gave us the guitar. It’s only something that they once had which they left to us when they passed on. No matter who once had it, it’s still an inanimate object and nothing can change that.
When God gives us something good in our life, let’s be grateful for it. Let’s respect it, value it, and take good care of it. Let’s use it for its intended purpose, and hey let’s enjoy it too. But let’s leave it there, where it belongs. We can’t allow ourselves to get attached to the tool itself.
I love playing my guitar. But I don’t love my guitar. If it gets stolen or destroyed, that would be a disappointing setback. I’d be upset, but I would get over it. We all would. Life goes on without these things. And sometimes we need to lose things to understand that they’re nothing but … things.
And the things of this world, everything we desire here, they’re all passing away. They’re temporary. If we hope to hold on to them forever, we’ll lose them anyway in the end no matter what. So let’s not make that mistake, let’s not be like the young rich man in Matthew 19. We need to take stock of what occupies ‘real estate’ in our heart, and if we find one of our possessions there, we need to put our prized possessions in their proper place.
If we can’t or won’t do that, we’re going to lose not only that prized possession, but everything else along with it.
That’s it for #shorts Part 36.
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