Have you ever had one of those months. You know the one where it seems like everything that could go wrong, goes wrong. The washing machine breaks, the pest man finds termites, the check engine light comes on, ... (and the list goes on).
And with all of these situations, the way to "fix" them is to shell out some money.
With the new expense of a wonderful baby, these little problems seem to have added a little more stress to the equation.
All of this has happened in the middle of a series I have been preaching on the Seven Deadly Sins (http://www.fumcr.com/pages/sermons). This week I am preaching on Greed.
If there is anything I have learned over my journey is that God has a great sense of humor and timing. When better for all of these things to happen then when I am prepare a sermon in which teach us that we are not to worry about the material. That we are suppose to live a life without fear.
This morning in my devotional time the reading for the day was this: Matthew 6:25-34 (NRSV)
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you--you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.
I know this is what scripture tells me... It is not easy.
In fact to live this way is hard work. I think if all Christians were honest they would say this is one of the hard examples of Christ in which we are suppose to embody.
What do you think... Is this easy for you? Have you experienced the transformation of Christ in your life in regards to money and generosity.
I can say I have experienced it at different times of my life and I have made it through. It still is a struggle. I just keeping praying for God's grace to help me live more days focused on living in celebration of the abundance God has given me in my life and my family, and less days worrying if we will have enough.
Thanks be to God that he is not finished with me and through God's grace and the fellowship with in a loving community I can continue to grow in this area of my journey.
Rodney
A pilgrim taking it one day at a time.
1 comment:
It's hard to llive as the lilies of the field when you don't have the money to pay for a car repair you really need. It's easy when you have plenty of money in savings, but how many of us have that anymore?! I struggle with greed every day of my life. Some days I do better than others in resisting it. Thanks for making us think about these sorts of things!
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