It all goes back in the box
“It all goes back in the box. “
My pastor Dan Maxwell had a sermon with that title when I was growing up. It was about how we spend all our life accumulating possessions, but they all end up in the same space. I thought about that as we packed up the leftovers for a mission trip garage sale at the church. Thankfully we sold a lot, but as you can see we had a lot left over!
But it does all go back in the box. People boxed these things up to donate them to us, and now we are donating them somewhere else. Our whole life is spent accumulating one thing after another, but in the end, it all goes back in the box. As a lover of sales and auctions of all kinds, I know the allure that comes with a hunt. Finding something that somebody else has overlooked, seeing value and something that others don't. If you ask me sometime I'll tell you all about my best garage sale finds. But even the things I treasure the most, will still end up in a box someday after I'm gone. Or maybe before then if my family has any say about it!
Of course it's a reminder that the most valuable possession we have of all, life itself, ends with us going "in a box." My pastor always reminded us of the old cliché that you've never seen a hearse with a U-Haul behind it. I'm thankful we could use all of these things that end up in a box to help fund our mission trip to talk about things that won't end up in a landfill someday. Events like this always make me remember to hold on tightly to what matters, to the friends and family that we love, and most of all Jesus Christ.
By all means you have my blessing to stop at any and all garage sales you see, but don't forget what they mean. It all goes back in the box, so make the time to spend with your loved ones. And most of all make time for the things that never rust or fade away: the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ!
