I Trip

The lady next door has moved out. Debris litters the sidewalk like flotsam after a storm. 

I stroll by ogling the items . “That metal cabinet would hold lots of stuff. I could use that safety gate. Ohh, I like that drying rack! I wonder if that is still usable?”

I trip over greed like I trip over my son's shoes floating across the floor . It's just like that rug in my hall that I continually stumble over. The same rug, the same shoes, over and over.

The truth is, I have no room for any of that stuff in my house. The truth is, I am envying someone else's possessions. I repeatedly am dissatisfied with what I already possess or simply want more.

Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles …

(Hebrews 12:1 NIV). The NASB says to lay aside every encumbrance.

Throw off. Lay aside. Get rid of it!

The point is, we are going to trip and sometimes even fall. But we don't have to continually stumble over the same thing. I can move the shoes, even the rug. I can choose to be done with greed. I can choose to stop looking at things that will only clutter my life.

I keep my eyes straight ahead. No more second glances.