who will trust you with true riches? Luke 16:11
I want to manage my money so that I don’t spend more than I earn. I want to manage my time in a way where moments aren’t wasted (or overbooked). I want to manage a lot of things. I even want to manage my use of energy and natural resources in a way that helps the environment (though I sometimes forget what goes into recycling and what just gets thrown away, not to mention that I just learned that chicken bones should go in neither, but rather down the sink’s garbage disposal – who would have thought!).
But what about wanting to manage what Jesus calls true riches?
Take mercy for example. Mercy is certainly one of our true riches, isn’t it?
And yet, how often do I think about managing mercy? How many books are written about it? How many seminars teach it? Do any of you iPhone users have an app for that?
What in the world is mercy?
I suppose it is anything from simply helping someone who doesn’t deserve it to actually letting your enemy, who just offended you, off the hook.
How often do you let your enemy off the hook? How often do we let our FRIENDS off the hook?
How often do you help the undeserving? How often do we help those who DO deserve?
Even if we were to stop and think about and intentionally manage our mercy, how generous would we be with it? (I wonder if we aren’t sometimes more merciful when we DON’T intentionally manage it.)
And why don’t we give out mercy more often? And why don’t we give out mercy EVERY TIME an opportunity occurs?
Every time I’m offended – mercy.
Every time someone doesn’t deserve help, but could use it – mercy.
Every day. Every person. Mercy for you and for you and for you.
What? Am I afraid that I’ll run out of it? As though it is like money where I only have so much I can spend before I run out?
Am I fearful that I don’t have the time for it? As though I don’t have room in my schedule for forgiveness today because I have to take my kids to soccer practice?
Do I think that it might not be good for the environment? As though too much mercy will bring about greater global warming (which by the way, it might!)?
Jesus said, Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:36
I am thankful beyond words that our Lord has not noticed all of the good reasons to neglect or intentionally withhold His mercy from us – but rather that His mercies are new each morning (noon and night) and that He so graciously showers them upon me and all – not because we are His friends or because we deserve it, but rather because that is the type of Manager He is.
My prayer is that He might help me manage my mercy in the same way.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, your mercy never fails me. Help me to give out mercy to others in the same way that you have allowed me to receive mercy from you. In your name. Amen.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Wealth
So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? Luke 16:11
So as I was walking to work the other day, amongst the various pieces of litter along the way (which by the way, now that I’m mentioning such litter in this devotion my conscience is telling me, “why don’t you just bring a plastic bag with you so that you can clean it up every day as you walk?” – which, by the way, again, is only making me hope that my conscience will forget to ask this question tomorrow morning when I walk out of the door and that my wife, having read this devotion – I’m assuming she reads them – will also forget to remind me….nonetheless I digress) – so anyway – among the pieces of litter, one crumbled up ball of trash catches my eye. And in fact I DO pick this one up. Why? Well, because it is a McDonald’s receipt which just happens to be crumbled up and wrapped around two dollar bills.
In light of the above quoted words of Jesus, different questions come to mind about the person who left this for me to discover and add to my small collection of similar bills.
One – how could this person be so careless?
Two – if this person cannot be trusted with worldly wealth, would God EVER trust him (or her) with “true riches”
Three – what are TRUE riches, anyway?
Four – maybe this person already had TRUE riches, and therefore didn’t care about the money
Five – maybe this person had TRUE riches BECAUSE he knew that money was essentially worthless (compared with true riches, of course) and therefore threw the money out of the window on purpose
Six – maybe this was his way of helping the needy
Seven – maybe he simply littered and lost two bucks in the process
Eight – maybe he did it as a test to see who would pick it up and what that person would do with it (did I mention it ended up in my pocket?)
More importantly, I suppose, are questions about me rather than him.
How careless am I with worldly wealth? Whether throwing it out of the window literally or figuratively with what it gets spent on – does it matter? Could I be better? (WILL I be better?)
How often do I think about the spiritual issues at stake each time I make a purchase or make a financial decision???? (Do you?)
In light of my imperfections regarding finances, how could God ever trust ME with “TRUE riches”? What are these true riches? (I think I could name several, though I wouldn’t be surprised if there were many which I missed.)
Which type of riches do we spend more time and energy with – desiring, spending, budgeting, investing, working for….?
And why?
Not that I have all of the answers – which may be okay – as the parable that Jesus gives before this quote does more to provoke thought than it does to clarify the “right answer”. But I suppose that is part of the answer – am I letting my thought be provoked – in the sense that EVERY financial decision is in fact a part of my living out my faith in Him.
Whether He ultimately trusts me (and you) may be questionable, but in His GRACE He still seems to give – TRUE riches even more than worldly! And yet thankfully He doesn’t leave me alone to manage such true riches on my own, but through His Spirit comes to me and teaches me and provokes me and sometimes even succeeds in leading me. And through this shows me once again why He not only gives the riches, but how HE indeed IS the truest and richest Treasure.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, whether it be our change from a fast-food purchase or our salary for a year or the greater treasures of love and friendship and forgiveness and the like, thank you for having patience with us as you guide us to manage such things for good. In your precious name. Amen.
So as I was walking to work the other day, amongst the various pieces of litter along the way (which by the way, now that I’m mentioning such litter in this devotion my conscience is telling me, “why don’t you just bring a plastic bag with you so that you can clean it up every day as you walk?” – which, by the way, again, is only making me hope that my conscience will forget to ask this question tomorrow morning when I walk out of the door and that my wife, having read this devotion – I’m assuming she reads them – will also forget to remind me….nonetheless I digress) – so anyway – among the pieces of litter, one crumbled up ball of trash catches my eye. And in fact I DO pick this one up. Why? Well, because it is a McDonald’s receipt which just happens to be crumbled up and wrapped around two dollar bills.
In light of the above quoted words of Jesus, different questions come to mind about the person who left this for me to discover and add to my small collection of similar bills.
One – how could this person be so careless?
Two – if this person cannot be trusted with worldly wealth, would God EVER trust him (or her) with “true riches”
Three – what are TRUE riches, anyway?
Four – maybe this person already had TRUE riches, and therefore didn’t care about the money
Five – maybe this person had TRUE riches BECAUSE he knew that money was essentially worthless (compared with true riches, of course) and therefore threw the money out of the window on purpose
Six – maybe this was his way of helping the needy
Seven – maybe he simply littered and lost two bucks in the process
Eight – maybe he did it as a test to see who would pick it up and what that person would do with it (did I mention it ended up in my pocket?)
More importantly, I suppose, are questions about me rather than him.
How careless am I with worldly wealth? Whether throwing it out of the window literally or figuratively with what it gets spent on – does it matter? Could I be better? (WILL I be better?)
How often do I think about the spiritual issues at stake each time I make a purchase or make a financial decision???? (Do you?)
In light of my imperfections regarding finances, how could God ever trust ME with “TRUE riches”? What are these true riches? (I think I could name several, though I wouldn’t be surprised if there were many which I missed.)
Which type of riches do we spend more time and energy with – desiring, spending, budgeting, investing, working for….?
And why?
Not that I have all of the answers – which may be okay – as the parable that Jesus gives before this quote does more to provoke thought than it does to clarify the “right answer”. But I suppose that is part of the answer – am I letting my thought be provoked – in the sense that EVERY financial decision is in fact a part of my living out my faith in Him.
Whether He ultimately trusts me (and you) may be questionable, but in His GRACE He still seems to give – TRUE riches even more than worldly! And yet thankfully He doesn’t leave me alone to manage such true riches on my own, but through His Spirit comes to me and teaches me and provokes me and sometimes even succeeds in leading me. And through this shows me once again why He not only gives the riches, but how HE indeed IS the truest and richest Treasure.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, whether it be our change from a fast-food purchase or our salary for a year or the greater treasures of love and friendship and forgiveness and the like, thank you for having patience with us as you guide us to manage such things for good. In your precious name. Amen.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Learning to Love by Learning to Hate
Jesus said, Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brother and sister, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26, from the 15th Sunday after Pentecost)
I love you so much that I hate you! Okay - that is not the normal way of expressing the depths of our love to those who are important in our lives. And yet, should it be?
It only takes a little bit of investigation to reveal that our normal, generic love for others tends to be on the side of selfish and self-serving. (Yikes, really?)
Quick test: do you in general tend to be more loving to those who ADD to your life OR to those who SUBTRACT from your life? (Ever ask why this is?)
Assuming you are like the rest of us and find yourself attracted to those who ADD to your life, consider this: does what your loved ones ADD to your life ever amount to enough? (And even more, will it be FOREVER enough?)
It is in this context that Jesus shares these powerful (and at times confusing) words, specifically directed toward those of us who "love in order to receive": whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother...
It is His way of saying, you can love them all you want, but they will never satisfy what you are looking for and truly need. Therefore "hate" them (or "reject" might be the better translation), and instead of trying to "receive" from them, receive rather from the One whose love DOES in fact satisfy.
AND THEN, having received HIS LOVE, then turn back to your father and mother, wife and children, brother and sister, and LOVE THEM with a love which is focused completely on giving rather than on receiving.
By the way - this is how HE loves you!
Prayer: O Lord Jesus, you who love me for my sake rather than for your own, may your love in me help me to do the same with those around me. In your loving name. Amen.
I love you so much that I hate you! Okay - that is not the normal way of expressing the depths of our love to those who are important in our lives. And yet, should it be?
It only takes a little bit of investigation to reveal that our normal, generic love for others tends to be on the side of selfish and self-serving. (Yikes, really?)
Quick test: do you in general tend to be more loving to those who ADD to your life OR to those who SUBTRACT from your life? (Ever ask why this is?)
Assuming you are like the rest of us and find yourself attracted to those who ADD to your life, consider this: does what your loved ones ADD to your life ever amount to enough? (And even more, will it be FOREVER enough?)
It is in this context that Jesus shares these powerful (and at times confusing) words, specifically directed toward those of us who "love in order to receive": whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother...
It is His way of saying, you can love them all you want, but they will never satisfy what you are looking for and truly need. Therefore "hate" them (or "reject" might be the better translation), and instead of trying to "receive" from them, receive rather from the One whose love DOES in fact satisfy.
AND THEN, having received HIS LOVE, then turn back to your father and mother, wife and children, brother and sister, and LOVE THEM with a love which is focused completely on giving rather than on receiving.
By the way - this is how HE loves you!
Prayer: O Lord Jesus, you who love me for my sake rather than for your own, may your love in me help me to do the same with those around me. In your loving name. Amen.
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