{"id":13702,"date":"2018-03-23T04:04:46","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T10:04:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2c64470d-9abe-11e8-99ad-ca52c1e5b2af"},"modified":"2018-09-03T10:19:28","modified_gmt":"2018-09-03T16:19:28","slug":"silverware-isnt-eternal","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/silverware-isnt-eternal\/","title":{"rendered":"Silverware Isn’t Eternal"},"content":{"rendered":"

I bought a house. So of course I\u2019ve been spending a lot of time fixing it up and making it mine. I have three roommates moving in soon, and I\u2019m trying to organize the kitchen so we can efficiently use a small amount of space\u00a0\u2014 especially in the kitchen.<\/p>\n

And sometimes that means I buy a silverware organizer at IKEA, only to realize it\u2019s really too small and doesn\u2019t have as many divided spots as I\u2019d like (for some reason, it\u2019s really important to me that my small spoons are separate from my big spoons). Then I end up at Marshalls, so I grab another organizer, only to find it’s a half-inch too wide for my drawer. Then I\u2019m at Ross, so I buy yet another organizer, one that expands, which is perfect \u2014 for my other<\/em> drawer and large kitchen utensils (serving spoons, grater, etc).<\/p>\n

I still need to return at least one organizer to the store, and I still don\u2019t have the one silverware organizer that I want. And now I’ve already spent far more time on this than I’d like. It makes me wonder, Why am I spending so much time on this? Why is this worth it?<\/em><\/p>\n

Having an Eternal Perspective<\/h2>\n

You know how sometimes God makes your personal devotions line up with your Bible study and the pastor\u2019s sermon? Well, God seems to be doing that right now with me, and this time the overarching theme is eternity.<\/p>\n

With an eternal perspective, all the small earthly cares that I spend so much time on really don\u2019t seem to matter. Yes, having utensils dividers that use all the space in the drawer well will help my roommates and me store things and help us live more easily together, so in a way, even that small thing has some importance \u2014 or at least that\u2019s how I try to justify this to myself. But does using space well in a kitchen drawer on this earth compare with caring for my own soul and other people\u2019s souls and their eternal destinies? Of course not.<\/p>\n

I recently listened to a sermon<\/a> by Titus Martin (shout-out to my pastor while I was in college) about eternity. In it, he talked about an incredibly unhelpful saying \u2013 \u201cthat Christians are too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good.\u201d He went on to explain how completely wrong that idea is. He explained that by thinking about heaven, we won\u2019t hold too tightly to this world. We\u2019ll be able to recognize and prioritize the things in our earthly lives that have real, eternal importance. By having an eternal perspective, we\u2019ll remember that this life is not meant to be comfortable. We\u2019ll also be willing to live sacrificially, putting others\u2019 needs and souls before our own wants.<\/p>\n

Letting Go of Earthly Stuff<\/h2>\n

While in college, I took a Bible class that at one point talked about the issue of consumerism. The funny thing is that at the time I didn\u2019t really see it as an issue\u00a0\u2014 at least not in my own life. In reality, I then spent ample time looking through promotional emails from my favorite clothing stores, trying to get the trendy, cute clothes on a college budget. Now for the record, I don\u2019t see all shopping or consumerism as an issue or sinful\u00a0\u2014 I still like to have clothing that\u2019s at least almost trendy and I am still a fan of bargain shopping. But I also now recognize that consumerism mostly focuses on the temporal, rather than the eternal. In college, why was I willing to spend an hour shopping for clothes online when I wouldn\u2019t spend 15 minutes reading God\u2019s Word?<\/p>\n

Now I think of myself as a minimalist wannabe. Even though I\u2019ve purged much of my clothing, I\u2019m still not a minimalist, and I\u2019ll probably never be one. I\u2019m OK with that. But I do now strive to have less material stuff in my life so that I can have more time, money, headspace and energy to focus on people and God\u00a0\u2014 which have eternal value.<\/p>\n

Remembering Our Call<\/h2>\n

As Christians, our purpose in this world is to glorify God by loving Him and doing what He commands\u00a0\u2014 which includes loving others and sharing the Gospel.<\/p>\n

So what does that mean? Well, I\u2019m certainly still trying to figure that out. For me, it might mean focusing more on people, rather than this house I\u2019m now responsible for. Yes, I do need to be a good steward of the house, a blessing from God,\u00a0but I can also use it for others. So rather than spending all my time making it just perfect, I\u2019m trying to make it livable and welcoming\u00a0\u2014 and then utilize it as a haven for others so that it can be a place of encouragement and a place of blessing for those that enter it.<\/p>\n

Because people\u2019s souls are far more important than organizing my silverware.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I bought a house. So of course I\u2019ve been spending a lot of time fixing it up and making it mine. I have three roommates moving in soon, and I\u2019m trying to organize the kitchen so we can efficiently use a small amount of space \u2013 especially in the kitchen. But maybe it’s a waste of time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":18485,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13702","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spiritual-growth"],"yoast_head":"\nSilverware Isn't Eternal - Boundless<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I bought a house. So I\u2019ve been spending a lot of time fixing it up and making it mine, particularly the kitchen. 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