Judges 2:17: "they lusted after other gods and bowed down to them..."
Which gods do we lust after? Possessions.....wealth....power and status....athletic skills.....recognition and praise....good looks and beauty.....all of these are gods to which we bow down by giving over a great deal of our time and/or our wealth in an attempt to secure them for ourselves. Our calendar and our checkbook reveal to whom or what we bow down, to whom or what we devote our lives. God desires that our investment of time and treasure be given to His Kingdom, not what the world would have us believe is our security and future.
Psalm 73: Why do we think that God's desire for our prosperity means worldly wealth? And because we think this, we get bent out of shape, like the psalmist, when those we think as evil get rich. Those whom we have judged as not living rightly but who still get rich are not the issue. The issue is our viewpoint is out of whack. God deeply desires our prosperity...but it is not dependent on wealth. Jesus is the human whose life can show us what true prosperity and wholeness looks like---living rightly with others and with God. Jesus is our role model of a human who was whole, at peace---even though he experienced pain and suffering---a human who knew his security was found in God's hands, not in things or riches.
Today's readings challenge us to consider how we view wealth and possessions as Christians.
No comments:
Post a Comment