Am I being convicted of sin?

[PaulRoland]

It's a long story but I'll try to summarize it. My parents sell toy models of cars online, my parents have me manage most of the sales and I get to keep one of each of the cars that we sell, so by now I have a collection of over 150 toy cars. This toy collection is shared with my siblings. I also make all the decisions about what new toys we sell, and I have caught myself buying cars that I wasn't sure was a good business decision but I bought anyway because I wanted to add it to my collection. I have been very worried over the last week or so because I am afraid that I made my collection an idol and I have been been thinking that God wants me to that sell the whole collection. (Prior to this past week there were days that I thought about nothing else but my collection)My worry is that I don't want to be like the young rich ruler who Jesus told to sell all of his possessions and give the money to the poor. What is the best thing for me to do here? I don't know because of few reasons, I share the collection with my siblings so it is not just my property, the way the toy business goes is everything is limited edition so in order to keep sales going you must constantly be buying new products. And the toy sales are at least 80% of my family's business and if I stop selling them we will go bankrupt. I have been lacking sleep recently because of this, because the Bible says that idolaters will not inherit the kingdom of God. Also I don't want to sell the collection because my younger siblings will be very sad as they enjoy playing with them. But if it is necessary to serve God then I will sell the collection. Is God convicting me about my sin of idolatry? And if so what should I do?

Thank you in advance for your advice.

 

[Subhumanoidal]

It's a long story but I'll try to summarize it. My parents sell toy models of cars online, my parents have me manage most of the sales and I get to keep one of each of the cars that we sell, so by now I have a collection of over 150 toy cars. This toy collection is shared with my siblings. I also make all the decisions about what new toys we sell, and I have caught myself buying cars that I wasn't sure was a good business decision but I bought anyway because I wanted to add it to my collection. I have been very worried over the last week or so because I am afraid that I made my collection an idol and I have been been thinking that God wants me to that sell the whole collection. (Prior to this past week there were days that I thought about nothing else but my collection)My worry is that I don't want to be like the young rich ruler who Jesus told to sell all of his possessions and give the money to the poor. What is the best thing for me to do here? I don't know because of few reasons, I share the collection with my siblings so it is not just my property, the way the toy business goes is everything is limited edition so in order to keep sales going you must constantly be buying new products. And the toy sales are at least 80% of my family's business and if I stop selling them we will go bankrupt. I have been lacking sleep recently because of this, because the Bible says that idolaters will not inherit the kingdom of God. Also I don't want to sell the collection because my younger siblings will be very sad as they enjoy playing with them. But if it is necessary to serve God then I will sell the collection. Is God convicting me about my sin of idolatry? And if so what should I do?

Thank you in advance for your advice.

This is an issue if priorities. I believe the rich young ruler was told to sell his possessions because keeping them would have made it impossible to not affect him.
I may suggest adding a different focus to your life. Perhaps setting time aside to devote to other things. Something to help you be less focused on one thing.
I suspect with the attitude you have an some effort you can move past how you're feeling without getting rid of things.

Also if it's a business you're naturally going to spend a lot of time thinking about all these things. It would be difficult not to.
The real question is does it interfere with your ability to do other things. If you set aside time to pray do you find yourself rushing to finish so you can get back to toys? Or are you able to focus on what's in front of you?

Also don't overly dramatize things. If something is a negative that doesn't mean that the only option is to rid yourself of it. Work at taking steps to make it not a negative. Getting rid of things should be a last resort. And in your case neither feasible nor wise.

 

[Mii]

Sounds like you have probably crossed the line into idolatry in some fashion but did you intentionally set it up as an idol? No? Then reflect, spend some time in prayer, read some scripture and make some changes. I'm not saying it's no big deal but if it wasn't on purpose then don't overstress about it. I think the verse you are referring to is intentional and wilful sin.

Collecting can get out of hand for sure. Psychologically it's stronger for some than others. I've had collections in the past and I recall greed and pride being pretty strong when I was young. I didn't know what idolatry was back then but when I became aware of it I think a lot of the things that fell into that category diminished and over time sort of disappeared. That's not to say it's not something that doesn't pop up from time to time (it does) but it helps tremendously when you know what to look for and how to manage things before they get to that point.

 

[TheIndianGirl]

It's a long story but I'll try to summarize it. My parents sell toy models of cars online, my parents have me manage most of the sales and I get to keep one of each of the cars that we sell, so by now I have a collection of over 150 toy cars. This toy collection is shared with my siblings. I also make all the decisions about what new toys we sell, and I have caught myself buying cars that I wasn't sure was a good business decision but I bought anyway because I wanted to add it to my collection. I have been very worried over the last week or so because I am afraid that I made my collection an idol and I have been been thinking that God wants me to that sell the whole collection. (Prior to this past week there were days that I thought about nothing else but my collection)My worry is that I don't want to be like the young rich ruler who Jesus told to sell all of his possessions and give the money to the poor. What is the best thing for me to do here? I don't know because of few reasons, I share the collection with my siblings so it is not just my property, the way the toy business goes is everything is limited edition so in order to keep sales going you must constantly be buying new products. And the toy sales are at least 80% of my family's business and if I stop selling them we will go bankrupt. I have been lacking sleep recently because of this, because the Bible says that idolaters will not inherit the kingdom of God. Also I don't want to sell the collection because my younger siblings will be very sad as they enjoy playing with them. But if it is necessary to serve God then I will sell the collection. Is God convicting me about my sin of idolatry? And if so what should I do?

Thank you in advance for your advice.

What you have sounds more like a hobby (like stamp collection or coin collection, baseball cards, for example) in my opinion. If you find you are becoming obsessed about your collection, I would pray about it and also set some personal boundaries.

 

[Tararose]

It might be best to simply give the collection to your siblings or someone you trust to keep for them and not yourself, and/or just stop adding to the collection, , if you are in anyway unsure about it. That way you can break any obsession and still honour your family and keep the business going. What ever you decide, it is better to be sure that what we do is right before God, than to do things doubtingly.

Ultimately the bible tells us that if it is something we find dubious, it can be a case that it is sin for us to do it. So that is what I am basing my suggestion on. If it feels wrong to you, then stop it. Doesn't matter what anyone else says, it isn't worth it.

If later down the line you feel it is no longer an issue, you will know that you honoured God to the best of your knowledge in what you did at the time. I cant see what you can loose that way, other than a few toy cars, which you cant take to heaven with you anyway...

Ultimately though, it is only you and the Lord who can make the choice, it isn't my convictions or anyone else that matter in this issue, it is totally a motive/heart matter and it is your heart so none of us can really make that judgement for you.

Romans 14 is quite helpful to read through prayerfully. Especially the end portion.

May God grant you clarity, and peace.

 

[PaulRoland]

It might be best to simply give the collection to your siblings or someone you trust to keep for them and not yourself, and/or just stop adding to the collection, , if you are in anyway unsure about it. That way you can break any obsession and still honour your family and keep the business going. What ever you decide, it is better to be sure that what we do is right before God, than to do things doubtingly.

Ultimately the bible tells us that if it is something we find dubious, it can be a case that it is sin for us to do it. So that is what I am basing my suggestion on. If it feels wrong to you, then stop it. Doesn't matter what anyone else says, it isn't worth it.

If later down the line you feel it is no longer an issue, you will know that you honoured God to the best of your knowledge in what you did at the time. I cant see what you can loose that way, other than a few toy cars, which you cant take to heaven with you anyway...

Ultimately though, it is only you and the Lord who can make the choice, it isn't my convictions or anyone else that matter in this issue, it is totally a motive/heart matter and it is your heart so none of us can really make that judgement for you.

Romans 14 is quite helpful to read through prayerfully. Especially the end portion.

May God grant you clarity, and peace.

Thanks for the replies, I've decided that I am going to stop adding to my collection. (Except for some cars that are still on backorder for many months, but I'll just give them to my brother when they arrive.) to and put the collection in storage or put it in my brother's management for the foreseeable future.

 

[Blackpowderduelist]

Thanks for the replies, I've decided that I am going to stop adding to my collection. (Except for some cars that are still on backorder for many months, but I'll just give them to my brother when they arrive.) to and put the collection in storage or put it in my brother's management for the foreseeable future.

There is no need to lose your mind over it. How old are you?
Put the stuff in storage and forget about it for a while.

 

[PaulRoland]

There is no need to lose your mind over it. How old are you?
Put the stuff in storage and forget about it for a while.

Thanks for your advice,
To answer your question, I am 18 years old.

 

[MoonCresta]

It's a long story but I'll try to summarize it. My parents sell toy models of cars online, my parents have me manage most of the sales and I get to keep one of each of the cars that we sell, so by now I have a collection of over 150 toy cars. This toy collection is shared with my siblings. I also make all the decisions about what new toys we sell, and I have caught myself buying cars that I wasn't sure was a good business decision but I bought anyway because I wanted to add it to my collection. I have been very worried over the last week or so because I am afraid that I made my collection an idol and I have been been thinking that God wants me to that sell the whole collection. (Prior to this past week there were days that I thought about nothing else but my collection)My worry is that I don't want to be like the young rich ruler who Jesus told to sell all of his possessions and give the money to the poor. What is the best thing for me to do here? I don't know because of few reasons, I share the collection with my siblings so it is not just my property, the way the toy business goes is everything is limited edition so in order to keep sales going you must constantly be buying new products. And the toy sales are at least 80% of my family's business and if I stop selling them we will go bankrupt. I have been lacking sleep recently because of this, because the Bible says that idolaters will not inherit the kingdom of God. Also I don't want to sell the collection because my younger siblings will be very sad as they enjoy playing with them. But if it is necessary to serve God then I will sell the collection. Is God convicting me about my sin of idolatry? And if so what should I do?

Thank you in advance for your advice.

Paul - so glad I clicked on this forum. Your conscience is well formed - but I don't think you have anything to worry about. I went through the same thing when I was younger and destroyed my entire Elvis collection - aackk!

First, I thank God for your faith and that you are concerned for the things of God!

Here's what you need to realize and I think you already do. I'm 58 now and have sooooooo realized that the things of earth are just that - things and stuff. However, I came to that realization slowly, and I'm confident you will too. I've got a barn full of baseball cards, polish pottery, and other JUNK that will make a great estate sale when I die. God has not asked me to dump it all - because I don't idolize it - I could take a picture of it all and burn it tomorrow for all I care. I care about the treasures in heaven, not here, and from what I can tell, you do too!

I don't believe you idolize your cars because you are concerned that you don't. God is just telling you to be careful, but he is not, and I feel pretty confident in typing this, he is not telling you to destroy it, sell it, get out of the business or anything like that. Your love for him above all things shines forth in your message. Just pray about it, but don't dump it. Enjoy it! God does want his people to be happy, by the way.

Good luck!

One more quick example. A singing group was in a back woods Kentucky church one evening singing, when all of a sudden the attendees started bringing rattlesnakes out of boxes under the pews! After much evidence of consternation and panic among the singers, one brother came up to the leader of the group and said, "brother, you mean that if God commanded you to take up the snake (Mark 16:17–18) - you mean you wouldn't do it?"

The leader said, "well, you know if he told me to, I would, but in the meantime, he didn't, and I ain't!

REPLY
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[presidente]

It's a long story but I'll try to summarize it. My parents sell toy models of cars online, my parents have me manage most of the sales and I get to keep one of each of the cars that we sell, so by now I have a collection of over 150 toy cars. This toy collection is shared with my siblings. I also make all the decisions about what new toys we sell, and I have caught myself buying cars that I wasn't sure was a good business decision but I bought anyway because I wanted to add it to my collection. I have been very worried over the last week or so because I am afraid that I made my collection an idol and I have been been thinking that God wants me to that sell the whole collection. (Prior to this past week there were days that I thought about nothing else but my collection)My worry is that I don't want to be like the young rich ruler who Jesus told to sell all of his possessions and give the money to the poor. What is the best thing for me to do here? I don't know because of few reasons, I share the collection with my siblings so it is not just my property, the way the toy business goes is everything is limited edition so in order to keep sales going you must constantly be buying new products. And the toy sales are at least 80% of my family's business and if I stop selling them we will go bankrupt. I have been lacking sleep recently because of this, because the Bible says that idolaters will not inherit the kingdom of God. Also I don't want to sell the collection because my younger siblings will be very sad as they enjoy playing with them. But if it is necessary to serve God then I will sell the collection. Is God convicting me about my sin of idolatry? And if so what should I do?

Thank you in advance for your advice.

I certainly would want you to respect your conscience if you think the cars are an idol. You could give your cars to your siblings if it is an issue.

I also think some Christians are a bit too free about calling other Christians practices and attitudes 'idolatry.'

 

[Kayjay_oregon]

I will share what works for me. I take a time out from whatever I’m concerned about. For example I chose to turn off tv in January. At first it was hard, but God doesn’t want my mind feeding on junk. Anyway I no longer desire tv at all. The Lord may just want you not to spend as much time, but if you are willing to take a break, the Lord will make clear His will. I commend you for seeking Him! Keep it up; read your Bible!

 

[EnglishChick]

This is an issue if priorities. I believe the rich young ruler was told to sell his possessions because keeping them would have made it impossible to not affect him.
I may suggest adding a different focus to your life. Perhaps setting time aside to devote to other things. Something to help you be less focused on one thing.
I suspect with the attitude you have an some effort you can move past how you're feeling without getting rid of things.

Also if it's a business you're naturally going to spend a lot of time thinking about all these things. It would be difficult not to.
The real question is does it interfere with your ability to do other things. If you set aside time to pray do you find yourself rushing to finish so you can get back to toys? Or are you able to focus on what's in front of you?

Also don't overly dramatize things. If something is a negative that doesn't mean that the only option is to rid yourself of it. Work at taking steps to make it not a negative. Getting rid of things should be a last resort. And in your case neither feasible nor wise.

The cure for idolatry is to spend more time in Jesus , allowing Holy Spirit to transform you.

 

[EnglishChick]

I will share what works for me. I take a time out from whatever I’m concerned about. For example I chose to turn off tv in January. At first it was hard, but God doesn’t want my mind feeding on junk. Anyway I no longer desire tv at all. The Lord may just want you not to spend as much time, but if you are willing to take a break, the Lord will make clear His will. I commend you for seeking Him! Keep it up; read your Bible!

Yes I've done this sort of thing. Often a break is needed. God doesn't mind is having hobbies as long as they don't get.in the way of us enjoying and serving Him