Rummage Sales
“What is more, I consider everything
a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,
for whose sake I have lost all things.” Philippians 3:7b
Garage Sale Season is in full bloom.
Summer’s activities usually sound the starter’s pistol and its
completion often sets the finish line.
And what a season it is…in fact, if we had room in the calendar, many
would make it the fifth seasonal marker.
Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring, and Garager.
These stealthy and shrewd urban
hunters, whom I refer to as “Garagetologists” are in constant search of the
ultimate bagging (they can smell a sale from 200 paces).
You would think some might even seek out a hunter’s license with a two
take limit. But then again, that would
cramp their style. Like pursuers of the
allusive Bigfoot, the Lochness Monster, or the Ancient Lost City of Atlantis,
they spend hours a week of their valuable time to find the consummate bed
frame, compact disc, or even toolbox.
Of course, like any other study,
there are levels of garagetologists. The regular Bachelor
of Arts in garagetology requires only a curious search occasionally. The Master of Arts in garagetology requires
you “hold” a garage sale once a year.
But a few of the Delta Force of Garage earn their D.G. (Doctorate of
Garagetology). Course requirements
include:
1)
A Trading License: (This is obtained by buying an
item from another garage sale and selling it at your own.)
2)
Two Blue Ribbons: (You must have been the first
person to arrive at two garage sales in a season requiring an overnight stay in
the resident’s driveway.)
3)
A Bumper Sticker: (“I brake for garage sales.”)
If you have fulfilled all three of
the preceding requirements, congratulations on your accomplishment.
You are officially in the Magna Cum Laude of Pack Rats.
Not all people share these weekend
warrior’s zeal for the chase but not to worry, different strokes for different
folks. I suppose if the Apostle Paul had taken a
Saturday stroll by a garage sale, he’d probably smile and say, “No thanks, I’ve
got too much as it is.” In fact, Paul
saw accumulations as an encumbrance. He
felt that they held him back rather than increased his joys. His motto was, “Travel fast and travel
light.” You might even call him a minimalist.
This even pertained to past
accomplishments. As someone said, “He who rests on His
laurels…wears them in the wrong place.”
Paul knew to focus on the future and not the past. In Philippians 3:7-10, he notes, “But whatever was to my profit I now
consider loss for the sake of Christ.
What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing
greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all
things. I consider them rubbish, that I
may gain Christ and be found in Him…I want to know Christ and the power of His
resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him
in His death, and so, somehow, to attain the resurrection from the dead.”
Once you think about it, I guess
Paul might have known a little about garagetology after all.
Knowing Christ tends to do that.
He probably sold some accumulations, trophies, and excess items along
the way. Everything in comparison sort
of becomes rubbish. Daily, he chose to
sell off the things of the past.
Somehow, the rummage and “rubbish” didn’t mean much to the Master of our
Souls. They only weighed Paul down. Maybe that is something we all might consider
this summer.
Terry
Risser
Reflections:
1)
What tends to most distract you from a full focus of faith?
2)
Take time to share your heart with Christ and receive His
love today.
Consider reading the Word today:
Copyright 2014-Terry Risser
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