Originally posted in February 2017.
(and yes, I still have the rooster)

On the top shelf in my kitchen sits a rooster.   It’s a colorful ceramic cookie jar rooster.  Now unlike the barnyard variety, it doesn’t crow at the crack of dawn to wake me from my slumbers.  But when I do stumble into the kitchen, my rooster has a message for me.

You see, I just purchased this ceramic decoration at an Estate Sale.  The sale was in the home of close neighbors, great folks who had lived here as long as we have. I wanted something to remember them by so I showed up early, just as the doors were opening.  I had always liked that rooster; I hoped I would find it for sale.

Roaming through their lovely home that morning was a disheartening experience.  All their tasteful furnishings and little treasures were displayed with price tags.  There was a coldness to it.  I watched as strangers picked through the lifetime of “stuff” that had made this house their home. The sale was well attended and I’m sure many people are the new owners of some very nice items.   But only a couple weeks ago we were sitting in that living room, chatting and laughing together.  Now the warmth was gone, all that remained was a showroom of goods for sale.

The message was unmistakable.  All our earthly goods are just the fleeting stuff of this life.  I expect the day will come when my own home too will have a sign in front – Estate Sale.  No one will really know or care which lounge chair was my favorite, or which dishes I was so fond of.  It will be of no concern that a certain little vase was cherished because it once belonged to my grandmother.

So you see, my rooster has a message for me:  set your heart on that which is above.  God doesn’t condemn people for having earthly possessions, but He does not want our earthly belongings to possess us.  He reminds us to set our heart on things that are in heaven, to set our minds on doing His will, to set our hands on “being Christ” to our neighbor.

And that, my friends, is the message my rooster crows each day.  It’s loud and clear to me, I hope you hear it too.  For God loves you, He loves you unconditionally.

Judy

“So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”  Colossians 3:1-2

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