Hoarders.

This is really hard. It seems like there are tv shows about almost every possible story line of our lives. I think there is a show about people who use coupons. There are shows about cars, house remodeling and investments. There are shows about sex and shows about religion. There's every sporting event known to mankind and pre-game shows to the shows themselves talking about what the sporting event will be like before it even happens. That's kind of humorous to me in the moment that I am writing that, in a ridiculous kind of way. There's police shows, hospital shows, comedy shows. There's news shows and entertaining shows. There's news shows about the entertainers who do entertaining shows. I literally just chuckled out loud as I heard myself write that. But really, Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Save us Lord. Save me from myself. And so if there are shows about all of these things then there's not a surprise that there is a show about people who hoard. I think one spinoff of the shows about hoarders is a show called "Hoarders: Buried Alive" and it reveals the life of people who have so much stuff in their homes that they can barely move around in them. If they ever leave and return to their home, when they enter the doorway, they immediately are climbing up into a pile of stuff that is spread throughout the entirety of their house. It's actually really hard. This is what is real for these folks and their hearts. It's easy to take shots and judge and be sickened, but it's kind of like getting a view of what our inner world can be like at times. And it's hard.

What if hoarding wasn't so bad? What if it didn't have this unhealthy stigma attached to it? I spent some time thinking about that this week. As I wind down some teaching in the bible book of James, I came to this verse in chapter 5, verse 3. "You have hoarded wealth in the last days." That sentence made me think of these words from the bible book of Matthew where Jesus is teaching. He said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where rust and moth do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." So I started thinking. Storing up is really another way of saying hoarding. Kind of interesting. So how could hoarding be healthy? How could hoarding be holy? I thought of a few ways.

Hoarding Hope. Having a vision for you of what you could become in Jesus Christ because of His love and power displayed on your behalf.

Hoarding Help. Willing and available for God to use me in serving and helping in a self sacrificing way that honors Him regardless of whether its seen or not.

Hoarding Holy Relating. We actually embrace with gratitude the opportunity to relate with one another in an intentionally non shallow way because of the gift of knowing that our relating is born out of the Trinity...deep, rich, community relating.

Which one are you drawn to? Think about it some more. Dare to practice it.

Rustless, mothless, thiefless hoarded treasure. I want it.

The new Hoarders, to the glory of God!

There's more.