Just Get The TP and Get Out

(~41 bottles? Graffiti, much?)

I try, I really do.  The whole less-is-more thing is worth living by.  With so much readily available to us, it is next to impossible to resist getting just a few more _______________(light bulbs on clearance, gift bags for half off, BOGO dish soap, etc...).  

We Americans are plagued with "Wal-Martitis".  You know what I mean, right?  Well, it is when you walk into the store for toilet paper and leave with produce, shampoo, candles, and dog treats.  I know, because I do it. Often.  This plethora of plenty doesn't just exist at Sam Walton's store, but any place that lures you into the display at the end cap of an aisle in red-ticketed glory.

I only got to thinking about this tonight as I was perusing Pinterest for organization ideas.  My mouth almost fell off my face when I saw the disgusting overflow (however, organized) of some of the behind the closet ideas.  Why do we do this to ourselves?  I just wonder if we are the only nation that buys way too much, then buy more merchandise to store it neatly...and then photograph it for everyone else to try? It truly boggles me.  Don't get me wrong.  I love a pretty roll of wrapping paper....even 2 or 3 rolls.  But, is it just me or is it just a bit superfluous to own, say 19 rolls?

Matthew 6:19-21 states, "Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being."

Look, I love a bargain just as much as the next girl, but if my joy resonates in only that merchandise, and is not found in a life after God, something is off...especially when we are neatly trying to stockpile the 30-40 scarves we own, but couldn't care to utter an earnest prayer for a struggling friend or give a nickel to a humane cause.  

Christ loves us all the same, whether our pantries are bare or overflowing.  The only problem I can personally see is when we become servant to that pantry or that closet or that really neatly rearranged sock drawer.  And if the purpose to rearrange our stockpile is to make room for more, then we must question, "If not for God's purposes, then whose?"  

The ridiculousness of the situation is that when we are lying in our cemetery plot, it will not matter what you owned....but rather what owned you.  Is it jewelry? Bags? Decor? Technology? 

Lay down these treasures and put no more significance in them.  Stuff won't further your life, nor your faith.  Less is more.