Better Than

Ecclesiastes 4:⁶ “One handful of peaceful repose is better than two fistfuls of worried work—more spitting into the wind.” (MSG, emphasis added).

Yesterday, we began to look at how to achieve the One Handful Living and the first way is Throw Out. However, people struggle to let go because of Fear and Sentiments. We all have things that we are sentimental about, and I too am guilty of this. It is confession time so let me tell you mine. There is something I have really struggled to give away. I still struggled the last time I looked at it. I was packing things to give for Everything-4-50, our community outreach sales program in God’s Favourite House. But when I got to it, I did not want to give it away.

Do not get me wrong, I am not saying that you should never have some things that you keep if you need to. But a lot of the time, they are just junk in the sense that they just pile up dust and fade. Meanwhile, other people could have benefited from it and your life would have been clearer, and freer. And guess what? You would have provoked more blessings for yourself. It is a win-win for everybody. So, what is this thing that I am so sentimental about? It is the outfit I wore for the dedication of my first child. It is so precious to me. I can still see the day I wore it and carried my child to church. I do not even know if God wants me to give it away. We all have those sentimental things that clog our lives.

Matthew 19:²² “When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.” (NIV). What God is saying to us is that we should not feel guilty for owning nice things. That is not the lesson from this passage of scripture. God is saying that we should not let things own us. That is the lesson. We do not feel guilty for owning nice things, but we just don’t let the nice things own us. And guess what? You never know what idols you have until Jesus asks you to give them up. You just never know. You may think you do not have any idol but wait for it. That moment when God says give this thing up. If you struggle with it, it is a pointer that it is a source of disobedience and it has become an idol.

To live what is known as the one handful living, the second thing you do is Buy Less. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, some people stretch Black Friday and Cyber Monday to two weeks because of the commerce of it. Some people have bought things that if they are to be honest, in three to six months they will look back and wonder if they really need the things they bought. Why do we need to buy so many things? Life does not consist of an abundance of possessions.

Prayer: Father, help me turn my eyes away from material things so that I pursue only that which is true and …walk in Your paths, in Jesus Name. Amen! (Psalms 119:37 TPT)