Sunday January 16, 2022
Hiding and Hoarding
There is a show on TV that I have watched just a couple of times about hoarding. Whew, what an eye opener! But oh, what a picture God put in my heart. If only my life was so full of Jesus “stuff” that it only gave me a narrow path to walk. Stuff like prayer, His Word, praise, worship, fellowship, obedience, love and trust. Can you see that powerful picture?
The word hoard is defined as, “a supply that is hidden or carefully guarded for preservation and future use.” Nowadays, hoarding has received negative promotion…but for us, it can be a good thing! Most of us have seen the show about hoarding. Well, we can learn much from that show…probably more than we realize. (See WORD WISDOM for a deeper study of good)
We are told, through Peter, that we are to sanctify the Lord in our hearts. The word sanctify means, “to make holy, to set apart, to set aside.” In other words, we are commanded to set aside a place in our hearts solely for the Lord. Now, it is more than just “hiding the Word in my heart” (Ps.119:11). It is really like hoarding Jesus there.
When you get a picture of hoarding in your head, you see a room completely overtaken with stuff. Only a small path can be negotiated. There is no way around the piles of accumulated possessions. And just try to go in and take that stuff away!! Hoarders are extremely defensive and emotionally passionate when someone comes in to “clean out” the mess.
There are many “cleaning experts” who want to come into our houses (we are the house or temple of the Lord) who will try to carry away our priceless possession of Christ. They don’t use trash bags, Clorox, or mops…they do so with reasoning, tradition, doubt, false teachings, and a denial of who Jesus really is. We cannot let those people in our house!
Having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! (2 Tim.3:5 NKJV)
They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. (Titus 1:16 NKJV)
Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? (Mk.12:24 NKJV)
Our hearts should be so overflowing with the Truth that we cannot walk any other way but through the hoarding of the knowledge of who He is! True hoarders have only a narrow path to navigate through their home. That is a perfect picture of what our lives should look like…navigating through a narrow path because we are so completely surrounded by Jesus “stuff.”
Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matt.7:13-14)
That verse in 1 Peter says that we are to sanctify Him as Lord! He is the Kurios! He is the Supreme Authority, the Controller of all things! That is who we should be hoarding in our hearts! Not some watered down version of someone’s theology or doctrine! Hear the Word of the LORD!!! This is who God is!
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil.2:9-11)
So let me help you begin to not just hide the truth of who He is in your heart, but to hoard it to overflowing.
We are more than conquerors in Christ (Rom.8:37)
He will give us above and beyond anything we can ask or think (Eph.3:20)
All things are possible with God (Matt.19:26, Lk.18:27)
He defeated death, hell, and the grave (1 Cor.15:54-56)
Even the seas and the winds obey Him (Lk.8:25)
No Word was void of power (Lk.4:32)
What He promised, He is able to perform (Rom.4:21)
If God is for us, who could be against us? (Rom.8:31)
Beware! I have just enabled your hoarding habit! This is our God! This is our King! This is our Lord! This is who we hoard I our hearts!
