"Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows." 
Worried, stressed, harassed, anxious; are these adjectives, which on a regular basis, describe you? We have a joke in our family. Whenever someone is overtly worried and ranting about difficulties such as whether the rent will be paid or the children will be safe on the ski slopes, we interrupt with, “safety first.”
Safety first might be considered a cautionary phrase for people who want an excuse for avoiding risk. However, in our family, safety first is a reference to the immense attention to detail the naval shipyard (Dewayne’s place of work) uses in their nuclear field to ensure the safety of their program and their people. In other words, the shipyard avoids disaster by paying excessive attention to safety first.
This is the case with our God. He has gone to extreme lengths to circumvent man’s eventual disaster, and instead, has ensured our safety with eternal salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. Because God knows us intimately—even to the number of hairs on our head (Luke 12:7), and because He pays enormous attention to the details of our lives—so that He knows what we need before we even ask, we may cast-off worry, approach Him with confidence today and tomorrow, come what may, expect to be safely with Him. Are we completely free from harm or danger? Do we have everything we want all the time? No, but when it comes to the most important thing—our immortal soul, God thought of safety first in securing us for Himself and sparing us from the pain of hell with its’ eternal torment.
A man came to Jesus asking Him to force the man’s brother into dividing the inheritance with him. Jesus warned, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15)
Our family life used to be centered in our house—especially when the children were growing up. The house did not make up the totality of who we were as a family, but it served a useful purpose in meeting some of our needs. However, too much stuff can weigh us down and cause us to fret beyond what is healthy. The more stuff we own the more time and stress we have in keeping track and maintaining it.
Accumulating stuff has long been part of our entertainment. From the time we are young, we thrive on collecting stuff: stamps, bottle caps and sports cards. Bigger boys like collecting cars, boats and real estate. While we females lean towards dishes, dolls and doilies or art, antiques, furniture, clothing and shoes-shoes-shoes! My daughter Katie like collecting jackets, my mother collects tea cups, I am guilty of collecting books—the bound kind, and over the last couple of years, the electronic kind too.
Two years ago, when we sold our house and went into minimalistic mode, I put most of my books in storage, maintaining some favorites with me for travel. It is silly, because those stored books have been in those boxes for two years now. Admittedly, sometimes, I fret about them—will I ever own a house again, will I have floor-to-ceiling bookshelves; will I see ever my books nicely lined up on those shelves in that house? Who knows? Had I sold the books, I would never wonder. Instead and just in case, I talked myself into saving the books, and now I wonder if they are well preserved or mildewing.
Stuff slows us down; it causes us worry, and consumes our resources. In my case, storage costs money. Someone else may use all their time and effort in cleaning and organizing their stuff. Owning too much stuff ends in stuff owning us instead of the reverse. Too much stuff stifles our creative productivity.
One of my favorite organization gurus is David Allen—author of Getting Things Done. His secret for helping people increase work productivity and develop focus is to rid the mind of all the stuff clogging its creative potential. The goal is to have a “mind like water.” In other words, the mind is cleared so it runs like a fresh flowing stream instead of a mudslide.
To achieve “mind like water,” David Allen urges a mind download. In simple terms, taking what is on the mind and putting it on the paper—hence freeing up space for creative thinking. I have been doing this for years. Even though I do not consider myself the shining example of heightened creativity, or a professional of high productivity, the exercise works to stop worrying about xyz and focus on A or B or C.
As I read Luke chapter twelve, I was reminded of my books in storage. The rich fool also worried about storage for the abundance of his crops and the ample goods he had laid up. Jesus said, that’s not what your life is about. Jesus used this young man as a character in a parable or story to emphasize His point. We can never depend on our stuff to bring us lasting comfort, nourishment or joy because, even if our stuff lasts a long time, eventually we die and leave the stuff behind for someone else. Jesus said, “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:21)
Jesus goes on to tell the young man and other listeners, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.” (Luke 12:22-23)
When all is said and done, you and I want our lives to be about more than food, clothing, houses and books. We want richness to our relationship with God that is not tangible stuff, rather, the stuff, which nourishes our souls.
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