Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, and that you remembered to give God thanks for the many blessings bestowed upon us throughout the past year.
I picked up a little devotional this morning and turned to a page that touched upon the Scripture passage about the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:44-46).
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he find a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.
On this, the day known as Black Friday, I think it’s important to pause a moment and think about the meaning of this passage. On our journey of life, how do we travel?
Do we travel light, unburdened by material things, or are we like the guy above, barely able to move because of the possessions we carry around with us, thinking they are the hidden treasure/pearl of great price? Would we be willing and/or able to give it all away if the Lord asked us to? The guy in the picture might be smiling, but he wouldn’t be for long if he really had to go somewhere.
Earlier this week, I wrote about an organization called the Advent Conspiracy, which hopes to change our focus on these days leading up to Christmas. Instead of giving meaningless presents, let’s give presence. That’s right. Instead of loading up our own backpacks and those of others with things of little or no true meaning, let’s focus on each other, and the real meaning of the Advent season, which is to prepare our hearts and minds for the remembrance of the Nativity of the Lord.
Another challenge, for you and for me. Let’s spend Advent giving things away, freeing ourselves from the excess baggage that seems to weigh so many of us down.
Check out your closets. Anything in there you haven’t worn for a while? Give it to Goodwill, so that someone else could use it. It might end up being the only present may get this year.
Check out your food pantry. Anything in there that can be given to a local shelter?
Check out your mind. Is there anything that’s been weighing you down, distracting you, or keeping you from being the person God calls you to be? Maybe a reconciliation is in order.
Check out your wallet. Can you spare something for that (sometimes annoying) guy/lady ringing the Salvation Army bell?
It’s a month till Christmas. That’s plenty of time to ponder this post, and maybe consider following up on some of these thoughts.
If you do, who knows what the Lord might have in store for us when the whole world once again remembers that Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us.
UPDATE:
Just in case anyone thinks I don’t take my own advice, after I finished the post above, I went through my closets and found enough excess stuff to fill these two large trash bags. Wow 🙂 How about you?
