Collecting What Matters
“Collect relationships, not things”
Over the past few years God has been stripping away the things I have surrounded myself with over the years. They were things I had collected and/or loved but little by little the few things I have kept have been mostly stored away, and the rest given away or sold.
At first, I didn’t appreciate having to let go of the things that I had attached feelings of home and sentimentality to. I resented having to let go of those things…until I did. Letting go helped me realize that what matters most isn’t things but the people I have around me and the relationships I build with them.
To be clear, I don’t think having specific things that remind us of special relationships or point our eyes back to God or that are cherished family heirlooms is wrong. However, if those things become the focus of my life or keep me from loving those around me because there is no room for them then my priorities are misaligned. I never want to get to the point where things consume so much space and time in my life that I forget what truly matters the most.
Things fade away, relationships don’t. Yes, they may change, and some relationships be exchanged for others but no matter what, relationships will follow me (and you) from womb to grave (and beyond).
God knows my heart is to have a home that is a safe, inviting, warm, joyful space. He knows I want to build my treasures in heaven, not on earth. After all, He put that desire there BUT He needed me to learn a valuable lesson before I could truly appreciate and understand how the essence of a beautiful home and life is created.
It doesn’t come from an accumulation stuff but rather my attitude toward circumstances and choosing to invest in relationships. In fact, I am convinced that a life spent collecting relationships is a life full of growth, wisdom gained, memories, and accumulation of true wealth and the foundation on which a home of comfort and joy is built.
If I spend my life connecting with and collecting cherished and valuable relationships; truly investing as a much care and thoughtfulness into them as I would in searching for a prized item, or designing an exquisite space, then I will be walking a life in the footsteps of Jesus and surrounding myself with what truly matter; relationships.
After all, God didn’t create this earth for people to simply collect more creation trophies. He did it to create a place for relationships to be born and live on for eternity.
I am still on this journey but I know one thing for sure, I have been more content and grown as a person by collecting relationships, not things! It’s never to late to join me and begin collecting what matters most.
Hope you enjoyed this post and that this following poem causes you to pause and think. 😊
The Collector
by Erin St. Clair
There once was a person who collected things
At first enjoying the high each new object would bring
But none of the items ever truly filled their hungry soul
In fact, the more they got the more joy those things stole
Still the collector went about collecting more stuff
Believing that one day it would finally be enough!
But the things only satisfied for a moment in time
They could never replace God’s intended design
In fact, things only brought more heartache, cares and chores
They became a prison of burdens the collector hated more and more
Then the collector cried out to God and began to understand
That collecting things was not at all God’s intended plan
In that moment, all their things lost their meaning
No longer did they have a hold on any part of their being
For the collector finally saw what they had missed all along
That relationships live on when things are long gone
Let this be a lesson to each one of us this today
Lest we too collect things that will only waste away
To cultivate relationships is a God given intrinsic, human need
Every person is created with this holy desire and heavenly decree
God’s yearning from the start was to have a relationship with all mankind
That was His heart then and our choice to sin never changed His mind
Through His Son, Jesus, He made a way for relationships to prosper and grow
He didn’t want us to lose out on the beauty and love we were designed to know
All relationships require constant growth and deeper connections
They drive us to know how to love with His love and be refined to reflect Him
A relationship with God creates contentment and is where all that lasts begins
It’s where we can be filled forever with His sweet love and abiding joy from within
It’s then we become collectors, reflectors and connectors of His unmatched love
For earthly relationships create eternal treasures we can store in heaven above
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