I came across the following that I wanted to share. It was in an article from Homiletics August 5th 2007. The author was talking about the Luke scripture. We do suffer in this country a problem with accumulation. I am as guilty as anyone about not getting rid of things that I have not used or even plan to use. I need to clean out my closets and my bookshelves and even my refrigerator. The entire article is about Rich fools. The author states that we are media saturated, we are fat, and we are rich as compared to most of the world. We are "stuffed barns (48)." We are called to remember that the scriptures are consistent with the theme that we have been given to and that we are to share with others, we are blessed so we may be a blessing to others, we are loved so we can love others, and we are forgiven so that we can forgive others. If we become obsessed with greed we will forget our blessings and forget that we are to be blessing to those we meet.
Go through your closets and drawers once a year. If you didn’t wear a piece of clothing that year, give it away. • Consider shared ownership of possessions with your neighbors. There are tons of things we own which we don’t need exclusive use of. Do two homes need two lawn mowers? Sharing possession combats accumulation and builds relationships with the lost. • Journal a list of all the things you need to live and another list of things you want for your life. Commit to purchasing only from the need list for the rest of the year. • Make a list of your monthly budget categories in order of amounts spent on each. Look at how your charitable giving compares with your accumulation line items — clothing, eating out, entertainment, grooming, hobbies, etc. Does the order need to change? • For the next month, every time you appreciate something that somebody else has, stop to pray for your own contentment with how you have been blessed. • Don’t rent a storage unit. If you have one, consolidate to only what you can fit in your home. • Christmas shopping starts again in three months. Declare a tight price limit on family presents, go with a no-gift Christmas, or spend as much sponsoring a local shelter as you do on gifts. Our well-fed, sedentary, affluent lifestyle can lead us away from being “rich toward God” (v. 21). But the message of Jesus is that we are blessed to be a blessing. Leave the bigger barns to the rich fools of the parables and the rich fools of the census and commit to being better at sharing than at storing.
Think about maybe three things that you can do this week. Are there things you can give away? Are there clothes you can collect? How about collecting food for the pantries this week?