Unpacking for the Trip

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in an steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,

Where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in an steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 6:19-21

This is one of the things I do not enjoy doing.  I love traveling.  I love taking trips and going on vacation.  I just hate packing.  Sometimes it’s like pulling teeth for Linda to get me to pack for a trip.  I almost always wait to the last minute.  My biggest problem with packing is that I am always afraid I will forget something – a belt, a toothbrush, socks – or that I won’t have enough of something to make it through the trip.  The result is I always pack too much and can’t get it all in my suitcase.  Inevitably Linda comes into look at what I have laid out to pack and shakes her head.  You don’t need fourteen pair of underwear.  You don’t need two suits.  You don’t need this.  You don’t need that.  We’re going on vacation, not moving away permanently.  I like unpacking a lot better.  You just take all the dirty clothes out of your suitcase, and throw them in a pile to get washed.  Yes I hate packing but since I love going on trips, I have to do it.

There is however one journey where this all gets turned around – the journey to heaven.  Getting ready for that journey involves a life time of unpacking.  Why?  Because on that journey you can’t take anything with you.  Like someone once said, “There are no U-Haul trucks following the hearse to the cemetery.”  You would think, knowing I just said about packing, that I would be all over getting ready for this journey.  But I am not.  When it comes to my walk through life, I am a pack rat.  I am always wanting the latest gadget, the newest DVD.  I loved grilling so much, I once had three grills in my backyard.  I have a hard time unpacking that stuff.  I struggle to let go of things.  For a long time, I kept all of my dad’s tools even though I didn’t know how to use most of them.  It took moving to Germany to get me to start letting go.  I would imagine many of you are just like me.

In that way I think Jesus was very definitely speaking to you and to me.  :Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in an steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, Where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in an steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Too often we let things take too prominent a place in our life… almost to the point where they become false gods in our lives. 

The problem with all the things we can’t live without – they don’t last!  Moth and rust destroy them  Thieves break in and steal them.  God, I believe has designed life to teach us this… to get us to unpack our suitcases to get ready for the journey to heaven.  The Lord used Linda and this move to Germany to help me to begin unpacking.  We sold, or gave away most everything we owned – our home, dad’s tools, most of our furniture, and so on.  I really struggled with this. What would I do without all that stuff.  You know what?  It has been a blessing!  I haven’t missed all of it.  Worries about “my things” has been lifted off my shoulders.  Unpacking my false gods, has left me with only one thing to hold on to – my God and Savior.

I saw this happen to my mom.  As she got older, she slowly had to unpack everything from her life.  First was her own home, selling it and moving into an apartment.  Then she unpacked her car and driving.  After that she unpacked her furniture and possessions and moved into an assisted living. Alzheimers ultimately unpacked her memory, to the point where she didn’t know anymore who I was.  I wondered, “Lord, does my mom have anything left?”  One day He gave me an answer.  I went to visit her.  I sat and prayed with her.  I started to say the Lord’s prayer.  She joined me.  That she remembered.  That’s what she had left – her faith.  That’s what you discover as you unpack for the trip.  When your suitcase is completely empty, you are not.  When all the things that don’t last are gone, you are left with the one treasure that lasts forever – your God and Savior Jesus Christ.