Possessions

Children ask the best questions.  Why do we stop asking great questions when we grow older?

People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. - Mark 10:13-22

Imagine for a moment that you have no possessions.  What would you absolutely need?

Instead of saying I need a home, think about what you need the home for, like a safe place to sleep.  And you need food and a place to wash up, a place to change clothes and a place to work.

Now if you want a family, you will need a place for the children to sleep, eat, grow and learn.

It is easy to see how these basic needs can lead to many possessions.  Once you have a home and the children grow, you may need more room, a bigger home, a car to drive them around, a better job to pay for it all.

Just as we acquire all these things when we need them, we should consider letting them go when we no longer need them.

When the children go off to college and no longer need to live with you, is that a good time to downsize?  Or do we wait to see if they will move back in?

At some point, they will move on and the big house will be more of a burden than a necessity.  That, I think, is what Jesus saw in the man's future.  His possessions now required more to maintain, like servants, workers, and money.

A child might ask, why do we heat the house when we are away?

We might laugh at that question, but think about it.  If we truly want to avoid wasting energy, wouldn't we come up with a way to shut down the boiler, seal off the pipes so water doesn't freeze and leave the house cold?

We maintain the heat because we can, not because we need to.  It is easier to keep the boiler running than to do all that is needed to avoid frozen pipes that burst.

So, maybe the message here is to question everything like a child.  Why?

It is the question of youth.  Why?

And if we continue to ask it with each answer, eventually we get to a point where we have no answer, and then wisdom comes.

That is when we can truly let go and follow Jesus.

More to come...