Everything-but-the-kitchen-sink

Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15

Everything but the kitchen sink means an exuberant amount of things. This became a popular saying during WWII when households contributed all they could to the war effort.

Today it is commonly used when people overpack for a trip.

We were at the airport one time and there was a girl in front of us with the biggest suitcase I’d ever seen. When she went to check it in, it weighed so much she actually had to go buy another suitcase to distribute the weight. She was only going to be gone for one week but I bet she had 20 pairs of shoes.

In Matthew 6:19, Jesus gives us a stern warning about how we are to regard our earthly possessions and not become greedy, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.” It’s okay to have nice things but we can’t let our stuff own us.

When our focus is placed on pleasing God, we’re able to use our resources to help others in need rather than collecting more stuff. Ecclesiastes 5:10 says, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.” Have you ever noticed how many storage units there are? That’s so we can store more “stuff”.

God gives us a sense of contentment which can only come from him and frees us from the desire to continually want more things. I need to be thankful for what I have and remember when I travel to take the less-is-more approach and not pack everything-but-the-kitchen-sink.