I like stuff. And I’m sure it’s safe to say that you do too! Some of us collect stuff. Some of us buy stuff just to have stuff. Some of us constantly exchange or upgrade our stuff. Some of our stuff collects dust. Some of our stuff breaks because we use it so much. We like stuff.
Hi, my name is Brandon and I’m a stuff-aholic.
I go through phases where I want to buy and collect different things. Most of the time, as I’m sure is the case with all of us, what we want and buy depends on what our hobbies currently are. I’m in the phase right now, and have been for some time, where I want to buy guitar equipment. My guitar equipment is my stuff.
In my endless quest for “the right tone”, I am constantly looking for new and ‘better’ equipment. Because I don’t have more money than I know what to do with, I usually will try to sell some guitar gear that I want to replace with something I think will be better. And certainly because it is a part of my job, I want the music that I’m a part of to sound as best as it possibly can.
Practice, you say? That won’t help! Everybody knows that the best, most expensive equipment will make the least skilled player sound good.
I recently organized and took an inventory of all the guitar equipment I have collected over the past few years. I laid it all out on the floor to organize everything. Guitars, amplifiers, effects pedals, cables, miscellaneous accessories, etc…wow! I have a lot of guitar stuff!
I wanted to be so excited and proud to have so much, but instead I just felt sick to my stomach. As I stared harder and longer, I began seeing everything that I had sold before in this pile of stuff. I got sicker and sicker. As I pondered and stressfully thought over this, Matthew 6:19-21 came to my mind.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
I’ve certainly laid up a treasure trove of guitar equipment that any guitarist would love to have. I thought that by having all of this I would be content and satisfied. I thought I’d even be able to enjoy it. But here I was staring at it all, and just felt sick. Why?
I saw before me all the time and all the resources I could have used to bring glory to God. Now don’t get me wrong—I believe I can bring God glory through playing guitar while I lead praise and worship. But I spent countless hours researching all of this equipment before I bought it. I would go to the same websites over and over each day drooling at this equipment. I saw before me the embarrassing amount of money that I spent on this stuff. Some of it will be obsolete within a couple years. Some of it will break. Most of it I don’t even use. And some of it I totally forgot I even had!
What can I say in response to this?
I have a lot of stuff. It doesn’t satisfy. Jesus Christ is the only One that could ever satisfy. Let’s stop building up our treasures on earth. They won’t last. Even if they did, we won’t be taking any of it with us. Let’s build up our treasure in Heaven. Let’s invest our time, our energy, and our resources in eternal things. Let’s do “all things for the glory of God”.
– PB