I was reading Luke 12 vs 22-34 and it began to stir something in my heart. That’s Christian talk for it got me thinking and the thinking was influenced by God. Here’s the paragraph from the New King James Version:
22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? 25 And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 26 If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? 29 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30 For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. 31 But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. 32 “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
It’s a pretty well known scripture for those that have been in the Church for a while and yet I don’t think it’s been seen for all it is. Most preachers would use this to teach not to worry and to trust God, which is great, but I think there’s more to this passage.
Jesus isn’t just talking about not worrying and trusting him for the little things in our lives, I think Jesus is challenging us to go even further than that.
Verse 33: Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys.
Sell what I have? How will I live? I need to work, to save, to build up great wealth, to have a house, a car and a yapping dog behind my electrified fence. I personally feel this is a challenge to give as much as I can, not just a percentage, but everything to those in need.
I’ve been debating the purpose of life with myself and bounced some of my ideas off my atheist friend. When asked what his drive was in life, he said he wanted to better humanity. Has that worked so far? Recently I watched a documentary on some men from the Sudan, who had never even used electricity, move to New York and begin to live in the US. The light switch alone was fascinating to them. After a few years they spoke to them again and the wonders of our better world had only made their lives worse. They were now working most of the time, they had piles of bills to pay and they were juggling the intense schedule the modern world creates. If that’s the purpose of your life, it’s not looking so good.
I would argue life is not worth living if it’s in a Godless world. That world would have no purpose. If my purpose is to serve God, to be his hands in the world, to love and help others – not just Christians, then how do I do that? Clearly this verse tells me stocking up wealth is futile. Perhaps the challenge is to live in that danger zone. The zone any reasonable accountant would never get anywhere near, living from day to day. Relying on God alone to provide and not stocking up. Imagine that. Imagine never being held down by possessions. Imagine giving away the majority of your pay check the moment it arrives because there’s no need to stock up. God will provide.
Is this thought so out there? We talk about it, but we’re too scared to drop our safety net we’ve built up and rely solely on God. I feel challenged by this. I believe it takes a real connection with God to know when the right time is to give and when the right time is to build up in the expectation of giving. It’s gotten me excited to get out there and earn some money so that I can put it into practice. But perhaps I can give God other things to work with while I’m a student. What about my time? What about my skills? The possibilities are endless. If I stop worrying about doing well according to the worlds check list and start helping God with his, my life has a purpose. My life is now worth living.
I’m finding it more and more difficult to not be ‘deep’ about everything lately. I think I’m just realising how the consequences of our actions, no matter how small, are huge. I was chatting to some classmates in a lecture recently and the subject of ‘religion’ came up. I mentally rolled my eyes, if that makes sense, as the very mention of the word irritates me. The word religion has come to mean some section of your life that you devote to a god or cult or something similar. What I believe is so much more than that.
Tonight I went to home cell, that’s basically a meeting of people from the church who get together in their homes to talk about God. One of the guys had just gotten back from a trip to Mozambique and he was telling us some amazing stories he had heard. As I listened I felt so disconnected, like I was living such a different life. I wanted to jump into the next car and go wherever and tell people about God. Yet, in my own lectures there are people who are so dead inside. They have the world but no soul.
Experimentation. Over the last month I have began to loath that word from the very core of my being. A Google definition search pulled up the following:
A sobbing little girl stood near a small church from which she had been turned away because it was “too crowded.”
