Yard Sales

Someone has said concerning yard sales, "One man's junk is another man's treasure." Only a poor man would have said that about yard sales. Rich people don't come to yard sales.

We had a big yard sale the other day. We wanted to lighten our load for moving. So we sold as much stuff as possible. We've spent weeks going through our stuff and setting aside that which we didn't want to take with us. My in-laws added their stuff as well. I think altogether we brought in over $300.00. Not bad for one day. Anyway, the people that came weren't rich, yet many did find treasures, small and great.

One man was looking for computer parts. He had old DOS games that wouldn't run on the newer Windows XP computers. So he wanted to build a machine that was made of older parts so that he could run his old DOS games. I had some old parts that I stripped off some machines that we were throwing away. He was glad to find such parts.

One young man came on a bicycle. He was a local migrant worker for one of the farmers in the area. He bought a quilt and a space heater. You could tell what he needed. He found his treasures. He brought a friend back later on. The friend was looking for a bicycle. We had one. Unfortunately the bicycle was just a little too big for him.

We had others who came for nik naks. They were looking to spruce up their living space. They just wanted to make it seem more like their place. Some found cheap books ($.25 for paperbacks) that made for good reads.

I'm sure that even though some found our stuff to be worth buying, most people would not find yard sales to be places where real treasures are found. People drove up in mostly older cars. I didn't see a Mercedes, a Rolls Royce, or a Bentley (although someone with a Jaguar, a relatively new one, did come for a brief period of time). God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong things (1Cor.1:26-29). What we value as real treasures and strength, God doesn't. He wants us to trust in Him and Him alone (1Cor.2:1-5). This is why Paul says that he glories in his weaknesses rather than his strengths (2Cor.12:9-10). We are at our strongest when we are at our weakest. At our weakest we trust in the only one who can be trusted.

Most reject Christianity as junk, not worth the commitment. Yet this is the faith that God treasures (Heb.11:6). Rich and poor are welcome to share in the real treasures that God gives.