 |
| If we find ourselves with too many things, is a bigger barn the answer? |
If asked to
name the fastest-growing industries in America, how would you respond? Something
in the construction realm, or the technology world.? Maybe some business
related to transportation? Would your guesses include…the self-storage
industry?
This
industry – constructing and then leasing or renting self-storage units – has become
big business. Wikipedia, that online fount of knowledge, reports it’s a distinctively
United States-based industry. Of the estimated 58,000 storage facilities
worldwide in 2009, 46,000 would be found in the good ole U.S. of A. Many of
them have been added since then. Whether a business enterprise, family, or single
person, it seems if you’re an American, you’ve got stuff. Some apartment
complexes now offer adjacent storage facilities, so tenants can keep their
stuff on-site.
Maybe that’s
why so many celebrities that vowed to leave the country if Donald Trump was elected
President are still here. They can’t find anywhere else to stash their stuff!
If you
think I’m pointing at others, remember – whenever we point a finger at someone,
several fingers are pointing back at us. Oh, I know about stuff, especially books. “Hi, I’m Bob, and I’m a bookaholic.” I’ve accumulated enough books
over the years to fill a small library, even though I’ve somehow managed
(reluctantly) to get rid of hundreds. There are lots more where those came
from.
My books
aren’t in a storage unit, although my better half probably wishes they were. Also,
as a diehard, bleeding Scarlet and Gray, fan of the Buckeyes, I have enough attire
bearing Ohio State logos to go more than a month without wearing the same one
twice. My wife has stuff, too, but we won’t go into that.
Suffice it
to say, we’re bonafide, card-carrying, stuff-possessing Americans, like many of
the folks reading this post. It’s fitting that next month many of us will gather
with friends and family to enjoy turkey and “stuffing.” There might be good cause
for renaming our nation the United Stuff of America. (Especially considering
the current states we’re in.)
This fascination with accumulating stuff isn’t new. Jesus
told the story of a rich man whose harvest was so abundant, he ran out of space
for storing the crops. Instead of giving some of it away, he decided, “This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my
barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, ‘You
have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be
merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night
your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared
for yourself?’ This is how it will be with whoever
stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:13-21).
Jesus stated the reason
for this parable at the start: “Watch
out! Be on your guard against greed; life does not consist in an abundance of
possessions.”
During His “sermon
on the mount,” Jesus addressed this topic again, perhaps anticipating the
self-storage boom. He warned His hearers, “Do
not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and
where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in
and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew
6:19-21).
This raises
the question, “What are these ‘treasures in heaven’?” I must admit too often I
get things confused, but long ago a friend expressed it this way: “The only
things that will last for eternity are the Word of God, and people.” Maybe the
secret is instead of buying,
responding to the latest sales and commending ourselves for the bargains we’ve
found, we could be investing in
people, using some of our financial resources to help them in achieving better
lives for themselves, and in the process pointing them to Jesus – “the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews
12:2).
No comments:
Post a Comment