Layaway

Kids all across America have headed back for another school year. Some are glad (especially the youngsters who think they are “big”), then some not so glad (older kids who think school is boring). However, I bet the parents are, for the most part, happy school is back in session.

Whenever I think of my good old days in school, I think of my mother taking me “shopping” and then putting all sorts of items on layaway. She would pick out outfits for each day of the week, shoes, coats, slickers, school supplies, then go to the “Layaway Department” to start making payments on the purchases. Layaway was frequent around our house. Then there was Christmas time – layaway was used for a whole lot more!

A little history lesson … during the 1930s, when credit was scarce and the economy had tanked, the layaway system was a godsend. The system was a “method of purchasing by which the purchaser reserves an article with a down payment and claims it only after paying the full balance.”

Using layaway plans, retailers allowed consumers to purchase their products, lock-in the purchasing price, payoff the balance of the item in small, incremental payments, and avoid paying interest. It was a system widely used for several decades.

Now that I’m older and the layaway system is long gone, I am reminded how my mother using layaway when getting ready for each school year was a lot like “laying up treasures in heaven.”

“You’ll never see a U-Haul behind a hearse.” I’ve heard this old saying for years to explain a simple fact: “You can’t take anything with you when you die.” You may be wondering how I connect layaway to heaven.

No one can bring material wealth into eternity – there are no banks or parking garages. Money and belongings aren’t any good to someone six feet under. What you have won’t change your circumstances when you die.

Jesus warned us about this when He said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal ...” (Matthew 6:19-20).

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with wealth, except when we become more concerned about the gifts rather than the giver, possessions become pointless. Obsession with money and “things” not only ruins our relationship with God, but ruins our relationship with other people.

God cares more about the condition of our hearts than the condition of our wallets. If our stuff stays here, what treasure will we have in heaven? We’re meant to use possessions and love people, not love possessions and use people. So, you see, what we think about eternity affects our earthly priorities.

I want to layaway treasures in heaven, than layaway things for this earth.

Debby Efurd is co-founder of Cary John Efurd Ministries of Pittsburg, TX. She has been a contributor to Bound for Life and written numerous articles published in LifeNews, Christian Post and the Baptist Standard, and is the author of Go Tell It!. Contact her by email (info@caryjohnefurdministries.com)