“All that is not eternal is eternally useless.” ¹

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Spring cleaning is upon us. Time to clean out that garage, those closets, the chest of drawers, a dusty attic, the musty basement—and purge. But, oh wait, what’s this. Why I remember when I first got this—and what about this—or this. I might just need- or want- to have these around.  And all the rest of these things…well, there is always next spring, right?

 ¹³ Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” ¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. (James 4:13-15)

Things. We all have them. They comprise our present comforts, current wants, newest gadgets, oldest memories. The things we have hung in closets, laid in drawers, stored in cupboards,  packed away in boxes, hooked up to charging adaptors, plugged into wall outlets, or framed in pictures will never accompany us on our eternal journey.

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

Things:Transients Housed Inside Nesting Growing Sprouting

“Things” are external items which can gain entrance internally and occupy parts of our hearts and minds to the point of becoming our gods, because we spend so much time, money, and even devotion to them. It is more difficult for us today to separate ourselves from our things, because we have so much access to material items. Our culture promotes the latest fads, the newest cars, the most up-to-date tech gadgets, the must-have apps. We are constantly bombarded through ads, sales, and the propaganda of self to purchase things—and more things.

This “occupation of things” in our hearts and minds eventually affects our souls, leaving little room for God. Where there is storage of the temporal and transient, the true treasures should be housed and allowed to nest, grow, and sprout inside, so we can turn our hearts and minds to the eternal and everlasting.

Time for spring cleaning—before our dust becomes a mist that vanishes, and all we have to show our God are the things we left behind.

¹ C.S. Lewis. Unsorted Quotes, Devotional Bits – Calvin College.https://www.calvin.edu/.