Wagon stuffing and soap bubbles, real life

Last night Adam Thompson spoke from Genesis 45 when Joseph revealed himself to his brothers and explained that although they had meant things for evil, God meant it for good. But his focus was on the verses later in the chapter when Pharaoh gave the command that the family of Joseph to “regard not your stuff…” as they came to live in Egypt, because he would give them the good of the land.


Genesis 45:19 Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 45:20 Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.

Our speaker proceeded to explain that only seventy souls came to Egypt, perhaps because the children of Israel disregarded the command of Pharaoh and packed up all their stuff instead of more people. Regardless, our culture is stuff oriented and stuff takes up so much room in our wagons that there is no room left for us to put people in.

He had us ponder the words of the greatest “wagon stuffer” ever known to man as he wrote these words; Ecclesiastes 2:10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. 2:11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

What we greatly desired (a new cell phone, TV or car, etc.) and finally got a year ago, six months ago has now become boring to us and our hearts are set on some new thing to stuff or wagon with. He explained that vanity is another way of saying “soap bubbles”. Just like when we blow bubbles for children, we have to constantly be blowing out a new batch because the ones we just created have already burst and need to be replaced to hold the interest of our delighted little ones. The though really struck me; how quickly our joy can be turned to frustration or anger as a child spills kool-aid on a new couch, or a new phone gets dropped, or our car gets scratched.

Many after thirty, forty or fifty years of wagon stuffing have so little to show for the labor of all those years that there is no joy in retrospect. They have a garage filled with so much that there is no room to park a car. Their attic is filled with things that they have accumulated and forgotten about and they have a storage building that they cannot find anything in because it is crammed full of odds and ends. They know they have got “it” they just don’t know where. How much greater would be the effect of our lives if we invested our lives in things of eternal value – seeking lost souls?

So what is “stuff”? Yesterday, which was Grandpa’s 69th birthday, Mama and Grandpa were at Tractor Supply getting some prices on things we will need to get the farm going. She found a Five Day Cooler (whatever that is) and a Fire Pit on sale. When she explained to me what she had found we decided the cooler was something we should buy so Grandma and Grandpa can keep drinks and food items safe and cool as they attempt to stay at the farm before we have electricity and water. The fire pit, although the sale was so hard to pass up, was left in the store for someone else to buy. I contend that the cooler was needed and the fire pit was stuff. I could be wrong. I could be wrong, but that’s the way I look at it.

Stuff comes in the course of our lives, but the accumulation of it ought not set the course of our lives. Something to consider as we try to be wise stewards.