Choose well in what you serve
Daily Scripture
Matthew 6:19-24
19 “Stop collecting treasures for your own benefit on earth, where moth and rust eat them and where thieves break in and steal them. 20 Instead, collect treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust don’t eat them and where thieves don’t break in and steal them. 21 Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how terrible that darkness will be! 24 No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be loyal to the one and have contempt for the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Jesus said that making the pursuit of wealth (no matter how you want to use it) the center of your life inevitably conflicts with loyalty to God. He stated the clear, common-sense principle that “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” and then pointedly added, “You cannot serve God and wealth.” Treasure in heaven, treasure by God’s standards, is the most precious item we can “collect.”
- Conduct a simple life audit. Review your calendar and your checkbook. Based on the time, energy and resources reflected in those two sources, what “master(s)” would you say you are serving? Can you see your loyalties shifting as you choose to invest in heavenly treasure? What kinds of changes could you make to give you greater freedom to fully serve God as Lord of your life?
- Pastor Rick Warren wrote, “Your heart is wherever you put your money and time. For some of you, your heart is in your home—because that’s where you put your money. Maybe your heart is in your boat. Or your cabin. Or the sport you spend your time and money on…. Where is your heart today? Where do you want it to be?”* How do you answer—where do your priority choices tend to focus your heart’s affections?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, calling you “Lord” isn’t just a nice, polite title. It means that you rule over my life and my priorities. Give me the courage and devotion to really mean it when I call you “Lord.” Amen.
GPS Insights
Janelle Gregory
I’ve recently undertaken the challenge of cleaning out my parents’ house after my father passed away and my mother moved into assisted living. For context, they lived in the house since 1983 and grew up in the post-depression era where people often kept everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. Like this Krazy Klock that runs backwards (still in the box).
Or my dad’s stilt-walking outfit that he hadn’t worn in 60 years.
And don’t get me wrong, these are amusing. But what’s less amusing is the “stuff.” In my parents’ house I bet I’ve found 40 pairs of scissors and 80 mini flashlights. I can’t tell you how many bags of clothes we’ve donated, many with tags still on them. Or items that seemed to be treasures at the time, but now here I am – deciding whether they are worth selling or if I should just toss them. Through this process, I have realized after we’re gone, everyone will have someone look through the possessions left behind. While they may keep a few items, there’s only so much one can take in. Some things will go to a thrift store or estate sale, but most of it will find its way to a landfill. Even if items go to a thrift store or estate sale, they will likely end up in the trash at some point.
If you’re reading this at home, look around you. Imagine nearly everything you are looking at being tossed into a dumpster and then rotting away in a landfill. How important is it now? I know I’m asking myself this. While I point my fingers at my parents, just this morning I found a blazer in my closet that still had its tag. And there’s a chance that, someday, my son may haul it away in a trash bag to the thrift store or throw it in a dumpster.
This really causes me to ask myself, “Is this what I want?” Maybe you’re asking yourself this, too? I don’t think possessions, in and of themselves, are bad. But when I start looking at the abundance, I’m a bit taken aback. How could that money have been otherwise spent? What good could it have done? Where could it have been given? Simply put – after our life is over, will our money have been primarily spent on things going to a landfill or will it be given in such a way that it continues to give life and goodness long after we’re gone?
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* From pastorrick.com.
