the handbag aisle

New Stuff. let's face it, we are all somewhat attracted, aren't we? there is just something about The New which lures us in...waves us on...beckons us forward. we can hardly resist its shiny appeal. we become weak with want and heavy with desire as we oggle The New Thing - whatever it may be. we are so quickly sucked into the aura of potential, the hint of promise and the taste of possibility surrounding Something New. we are so easily entranced. it can be something simple and lovely,  like a freshly fallen snow or the pink blush of sunrise.  it can be something necessary and noble, like the turning over of a new leaf or the start of a new exercise program.   it can also be something shallow and material, like a new pair of shoes or another CD.   some of us long for an exotic island or the thrill of a mountain top.  some of us simply desire another trip to target.


share a cup of coffee with any woman over any kitchen counter in america, i bet she has a list. go ahead and ask her. is there something new you'd like for your home? is there someplace foreign you'd like to go? walk into her closet bulging with clothes. i bet she has a list posted there as well, mentally hanging between blouses and blazers. men and children, don't think for one minute you are immune.  i have both of you in my life and i know you, too, come with lists.  i may not desire the motorbikes, electronic doo-dads, super heroes and bags of cotton candy which you desire, but i know your lists are often long.


sometimes it is just stuff:  flat screens and ski trips. new drapes and croissants. handbags and heels. sometimes it deals with messier, more complicated things like careers and scenery and spouses and resolutions.  what is this thing which tricks us into believing ourselves better with a new purchase? improved with another accomplishment? happier with a fresher set of circumstances? i am guilty. recently i found myself in the aisle of TJ MAXX fingering a soft-italian-leather-perfect-shade-of-gray-handbag. it was amazing. the stitching, exquisite. i knew complete and lasting happiness lay just inside the deep and silk-lined pockets of this enchanting bag dangling before me.  i eased this loveliness up onto my eager arm and gazed into the full length mirror nearby. a perfect fit. i imagined the possibilities. if only i could walk out of the store with this beautiful accessory slung stylishly across my shoulder it would solve all my problems. i would be organized. i would be on time. i would be thinner. i would finally be fashionable. the truth is, if i brought this bag home, i would be in trouble. it wasn't needed. and though TJ MAXX can have great deals, this wasn't one of them. i slowly put the bag down and woozily made my way out of the store into the atlanta sunshine. my head began to clear. what had i been thinking? what in the world was wrong with me? i hadn't even been shopping for a new purse. i had gone into this pit of designer desire in search of new towels for the guest room and had ended up in the accessory section attempting to justify a purchase which would have easily been a utitlity payment. perhaps there is a subliminal message in the music they play. perhaps a drug is quietly released when we walk through the automatic doors. certainly it must be smoke and mirrors and magic. it surely cannot be my own sense of discontent. it absolutely cannot be my own selfish desires.  i refuse to believe i am so shallow as to be swayed by fashion and image and soft, italian leather.


the truth is, God sort of created us this way. i mean He certainly isn't pleased to have us drooling over unnecessary handbags, but He did create us with a sense of desire for The New. He wired us with a crazy combination which lures us in search of treasure. He carefully and creatively designed us with a drive to fill holes. He made us in a way which moves us in the direction of more.  there is a hole to fill.  there is more to pursue.   there, most certainly, is a treasure to be found.  but i have to tell you, though i have, in the course of my shopping years, brought home countless bags from TJ MAXX, not one of them has held the real treasure.  regardless of  how great the find and no matter how thrilling the purchase, nothing has come close.


these things which fill our homes and clutter our minds can feel good. really good. we all know the luxurious feeling of the perfect purchase. we also probably know the fleeting quality of this incredible find. we have all experienced how fabulous it feels to slip a new outfit over our head or slide into a new vehicle - at least for a little while.   we either, have been children or have children, who pined for christmas toys and gadgets only to discard them by new year's day.  just this week my teenage daughter received a brand new camera which was top on her wish list, only to have it break within a few days. that coveted camera is now somewhere between atlanta and minnesota. how disappointing if this is where we store up our treasure. how devastating if this is all the treasure we seek: new cameras and new places and new people. we will search forever. we will spend forever searching. i know this, and yet i often find myself standing in aisles coveting handbags and hairstyles and even exotic islands.


most of us would agree that true treasure is not to be found in spring getaways and bigger backyards and smoother hair - though these are all perfectly lovely things.  we probably all know that filling the great hole with More New Stuff doesn't really work.  but it is hard.  i know not to "store up treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal."  but knowing this and doing this are two very different things.  i would also like to note that when matthew recorded this inspired passage of scripture Target had yet to be invented.    i am firmly on board with the need to "store up treasures in heaven..." but these treasures are sometimes harder to desire.  they are not quite as shiny and, at first glance,  not near as lovely.  they take more than a swipe of plastic.  they require hard things from me.  things like discipline and sacrifice and commitment.  but these are the things which show true evidence of The New.  i can put on a fresh pair of shoes and carry a different purse every day of my life, but these additions will not transform me.  not one bit.  real transformation is not the work of TJ MAXX, but the work of Jesus Christ.  He is the transformer of all things.  He, alone, is the Maker of All Things New.  it is His desire to take my heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh.  all the fashionable accessories in the mall will do nothing more than make that stone heart a little prettier...but a stone heart it will remain without His touch.


there is much to be said for The New.  we are all desperately in need of it.  on this new morning, of a new day, in a new year,  my prayer for you...for me...is to take our eyes off the glittering gadgets and empty guarantees of this world and to keep these eyes focused on Christ alone.   He will be our treasure....He will transform us...He will make All Things New.  and This New is better than any handbag, italian leather, or not.  but if, someday, you happen to come across an entranced woman in TJ MAXX gazing lustfully at leather shoulder bags, would you be so kind as to pinch her arm and whisper in her ear..."treasures in heaven, jody, treasures in heaven."

"therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW creation...the old things
 have passed away.  behold, I make all things NEW!"  ~ 2 corinthians 5:17