Taking Care of the Important Stuff

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The Calvary Baptist Church

I think we all go to garage sales once in a while, maybe not intentionally when we leave the house, but as we are driving by one and see something we think we might like to have, so we stop.

Well, I have a friend who is a garage sale junkie (no pun intended). He goes to several every week and believe it or not comes up with some pretty good stuff. He even found me a Georgia Bulldog coffee cup so I wouldn’t have to drink coffee from a styrofoam cup when we volunteer at the Fort Sill National Cemetery every Friday.

Well, a couple months ago he came to work one Friday morning after going to several sales (he leaves his house at 6:30 A.M. in order to get the good stuff he says) and when he arrived at the cemetery he said to me, “You know Roger, I stopped at a sale in my neighborhood this morning, and as I arrived and got out of the truck I surveyed the entire driveway and front lawn blanketed with a vast array of items. Then I look at the house and wondered, just how did all these things fit into such a small house.”

The Bible mentions people and their stuff in several places. Job had lots of material things, but, suddenly, lost it all. Job 1: 21 says: “And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (KJV).

The apostle Paul echoed that truth in 1 Timothy 6: 7. “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” (KJV).

Jesus also warned of overvalued treasure. Matthew 6: 19 & 21 says this: “(19) Lay up not for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: (21) For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (KJV).

There will come a day when we all must say goodbye to the life as we know it now and all our stuff. Each one of us will have to stand alone before God and be judged. So, whatever possessions (stuff) we have accumulated while here on earth will be meaningless. The question is this, “Will we be ready to meet God?” I hope and pray that we are.

What we must do first is admit that our sin makes us unworthy to stand in God’s presence. We all sin, and any sin – big or small – as we may think of it, means that we are not good enough on our own. Do not misinterpret the words

big or small. Sins don’t come in sizes. There is no big or small, a sin is a sin no matter what size we may think they are. One sin is as bad as the other.

God will accept us when we repent of our sins and place our faith in His Son, Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, who died on the cross for us. He paid a debt we owed. He did this so we could have the opportunity to spend eternity with Him in heaven. His death is our means to salvation and eternal life, a gift that God offers freely to all of us.

Is it wrong to enjoy material possessions? The answer to that questions is NO. Besides, God gave us those material things to enjoy, however, if we neglect our soul and our salvation, we will come up empty – handed at the end of our life.

So, let me encourage you to take the necessary steps now to prepare yourself, to take care of the important stuff in life.

1. Realize that sin means death. Romans 6:23 tells us, “the wages of sin is death.”

2. Acknowledge your sinful state and your need for God. Romans 3: 23 says: “For all have sinned.”

3. Receive Jesus Christ and your personal Savior and his forgiveness which is the only way to God. Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other.”

4. Recognize God’s love for you. John 3: 16, “For God so loved the world.”

5. And commit yourself totally to God’s plan for your life. Romans 10: 13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

My friends, let me encourage you to take care of the important stuff in life and not worry about the other. Life is short and we do not know when the Lord will return for His children. But, rest assured He is coming, we just don’t know when, so take care of the important stuff now before it’s too late.