My wife and I were on one of our many site seeing trips we like to take from time to time. As we were traveling down one street we came by a house with a carport filled to the ceiling with “stuff.” As we drove by she looked at me and we both said “Hoarders” together. I mean they had a little bit of everything in that carport with a makeshift tarp over it. It was a gold mine for thieves who wanted a quick fix on some product that was still in the original packaging. In my mind I imagined they probably had more stuff on the inside which made them start storing it outside. It wasn’t until we started watching the TV shows about hoarders that I even knew anything about “hoarding” and the mental aspects of this malady.
Back in the eighties I had a friend who liked to collect guitars. Many different guitars. I guess he was actually a hoarder as well, but a little more intentional and a lot more upscale. If he found a different or new guitar that caught his eye he would buy it whether he needed it or not. When we moved away from there I think his count on guitars was somewhere around 150 and he was poised and ready to buy another if it caught his eye. The funny thing is he couldn’t play them all and didn’t even try. He just liked having them. Now that’s some sophisticated hoarding. He called himself a collector. Yeah right! When you get over a hundred guitars, you are in hoarding territory, pure and simple.
Sometimes I think we are not totally utilizing all the talents God has given us. We find out that God has a great plan for us and that He has given us natural abilities. We train and train and then say, “When I get an opportunity I will use this for God.” We go to the next training session or Sunday School class, get challenged and then walk out learning what it means to be a great servant for Christ. But, instead of following through and committing to serving the Lord with what He has equipped us with, we hoard the talent. What happens to all those talents and challenges from God that you have hoarded? They start to stack up! At the beginning you think, “next week”, but next week becomes next year and then eventually you forget. Those unfulfilled “calls” from God to serve, instead of being a blessing, become a weight on your mind and heart. Little by little you hoard until it becomes increasingly aware to those around you that you can’t be depended on to serve. Pretty soon you wonder why you can’t seem to do those things you used to be able to do and you realize that God has moved on and you haven’t. In Matthew 25:14-30 it tells of two servants who used their talents for God and they were given even more because they had been faithful to give those talents away. But the last guy with one talent; he buried it. Buried it! He assumed the Master was a hard man and that the standard was way to high, so he took it upon himself to “hoard” the talent. His life became worthless to the Master and He gave his talent to the one who had the most. You may say, “If I don’t use this for God, will He take it away?” Duh! Yeah!! God has a purpose for everything in your life and you not following through with what He has given you will only hinder His plans for you and those you know. Every person, every talent, every moment is important to God. Every one!!
If you have been hoarding those things God has given you to serve Him, now is the time to clean our your closet and start fresh with real “feet walking” commitments. That way you won’t have all this excess baggage holding you back and holding you down. Then all your unfulfilled commitments will become fulfilled service to the Lord. No more hoarding….Just giving away!!!
I hope we never get to the point that people look at us and say, “Hoarders” when it comes to living a God-centered life of purpose. I also hope they never pass by a church and look at each other and say, “Hoarders!” We’ve got to give it away. The Christian life is much more than just knowing or having. It is doing! We need to start doing now!! I keep hearing preachers preach that we need revival. I just want to get up in the service and yell, “Then start now, right here!” Then we can let God get on with it and quit wasting time Hoarding!
The Pilgrimage continues…..
David Warren