Cupcakes & Cadillacs

Cupcakes & Cadillacs:

Back before the turn of the millennia I purchased my first brand new car.  It was a sweet little sports car with all the bells and whistles.  For months prior I had done tons of research on Edmund’s, Kelly Blue Book, Consumer Reports, etc. I’d even gone so far as to create an Excel spreadsheet, assigning values to various systems based on reliability and ‘customer satisfaction,’ so I could rank the contenders.  After purchasing my dream-ride I performed the unspoken obligatory rounds; you know what I mean - where you parade your new ‘baby’ in front of all your friends and family.

That car dominated my thoughts for months before I purchased it… and well beyond.  When I drove it I constantly worried about the paint getting scratched, the leather getting damaged, where to park it, whether or not it was going to rain… and then one misty morning I walked out to where I’d parked ‘her’ and found a dry rectangle on the pavement instead.  Only a moment before someone had stolen ‘my baby.’ As the light rain fell the dry rectangle was slowly consumed and a terrible wave of nausea overwhelmed me.  One payment left on my dream-ride and she was gone – never to be seen again.

The more we consume the more we are consumed.  Our lives are filled with cupcakes & Cadillacs, things that consume our thoughts, dreams, and energies… right down to our very essence.  Consider some of the things that have consumed you in years-gone-by: a vehicle, house, tech-gadgets, that toy you just couldn’t live without as a kid, a job/promotion…  Where are they now? Virtually everything we crave and chase after is a fleeting vapor. Those shiny trinkets of temptation have become debris in the junk-heap of our lives filling our attics, garages, storage units, and dumpsters.

Jesus 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 moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

God wants you to turn from a focus on the junk of the world, that perpetuates darkness, and make Him your soul/sole focus.  When God looks into your eyes does He see you intently looking back at Him in awe, wonder, and worship? Or does He find you storing up and treasuring cupcakes and Cadillacs?

Blessings,

-Kevin