Well, it’s that time again.
Packing time.
This marks my ninth move in ten years.
Perhaps the most time consuming aspect of this exercise is sorting through all the goods we have accumulated and having to decide which are precious enough to occupy space and weight in our luggage, which are worthy to be boxed and stacked in storage, which will be relinquished to the giveaway pile, and which are doomed for the dumpster.
And every time I face these decisions, my mind wanders to Matthew 6:19-21 –
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Then I realize one truth: That no matter which lot my material possessions receive in the sorting and packing process, they all have the same destiny.
Not one of them will enter into eternity.
Exactly a year ago, I blogged about a quote from the film, ‘Eat, Pray, Love.’
In the movie, the main character, Liz Gilbert, decides to spend a year traveling to Italy, India and Bali. Before she leaves, she boxes up all of her worldly possessions and packs them into a rented storage unit. As the employee is about to close the garage door, Liz sighs and says forlornly, “My whole life fits into a 12×12 box.”
The mover rolls his eyes and says condescendingly, “Lady? You know how many times I hear people say that in a week? And most of ’em don’t come back for their ‘whole life.'”
How true this is. In fact, I was one of those people pulling down the sliding garage door on a storage unit full of possessions just over a year ago. Now, just fourteen months later, I can’t say I can even remember what lies on the concrete floor behind that rickety door.
So while I spend my time packing here and tossing there, I will do well to remember that when Christ comes,
… there will be no boxes in the sky.
