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"He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there" (Genesis 12:5).

Brooksyne and I celebrate our 49th anniversary in May. When we married in 1976 I moved all the stuff I wanted from my childhood in a small trailer and pulled it behind my car from the Kansas City area where I grew up to our first house (a parsonage) near Springfield, Missouri.

My mattress caught fire on the way and I had to pitch it off to the side of US Route 50, with the help of a Missouri highway patrol trooper who first noticed the fire and had stopped me (the trooper suggested it was likely a cigarette tossed from another passing car).

I suppose if that happened today it would have prompted a major environmental crisis but as I recall the trooper just helped me drag it off the trailer and made no issue of whatever was left after it burned. He probably went home and told his wife that night as they chuckled together about the skinny 21 year old preacher's roadside emergency.

Brooksyne brought all her childhood stuff from Tulsa in her '73 bright orange Ford Maverick.

Then we began to accumulate. Over a year later we moved to Pennsylvania in a small U-Haul truck and in 1993 we moved to Massachusetts in an even larger truck with a trailer. When we moved back to Pennsylvania in early 2001 it took two trucks (one large and one small)! I think, at this point in our life, we are back down to one truck or at least I hope so!

We are beginning the "downsizing" phase of life, also known as decumulation which simply means "disposal of something accumulated" (Merriam-Webster). Yesterday I was going through a file cabinet and saw I have a lot of hanging file folders I will never use (about a hundred). Stop by our house and I will give you some (call first). We are glad we can see most of our stuff reused and are thankful for the role of our local gift & thrift shop and Goodwill.

But accumulation is ancient, and is ultimately a result of God's blessings. Abraham's calling is an instructive portion of the Bible and a great model for all of us in our journey of faith. When God called him he obeyed.

He had a lot of animals and household servants. But let us consider a simple phrase in the daily text, "all the possessions they had accumulated".

I wonder what in the world they had accumulated? I suppose they had clothing, tents, cooking utensils, animal accessories, saddle blankets, bedding and other household supplies as well (Sarah probably had several pairs of shoes). I don't know what kind of furniture they had but I know they didn't have a power recliner which I enjoy very much. Based upon my knowledge of the original Hebrew I am also sure they didn't have any electronic equipment, computers, electric appliances or power tools!

It's just hard to imagine that they had to deal with anything like we do here in prosperous America, where a booming business is self-storage units for all the extra stuff people accumulate! A huge multi-story U-Haul storage building was recently built off the main highway to Lancaster. In fact a new "disease" has been identified of uncontrollable hoarding which now has a medical sounding name, "Hoarding disorder". It has a relation to affluenza, a psychological malaise supposedly affecting wealthy people but it exists in other socioeconomic settings as well.

Accumulations are a part of life and we all have some. But there's a constant need to really remember what is important. Jesus talked about accumulations when He said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal".

The apostle Paul made the universally recognized observation that reminds us, "We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it". And Job said it so well as he experienced tremendous prosperity and the loss of it all, "Naked I came [into this world] from my mother's womb, and naked I will return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21). Jesus said, "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).

Accumulations are a part of life and we all have some. But there's a constant need to really remember what is of first importance.

Be encouraged today! Hebrews 3:13

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber