It is a tendency of mine to focus on how fallen I am, to remain up-to-date on how I’ve failed. My inward being is bent toward depravity and I often give in, making mistakes I would love to erase. I am a fallen sinner.
While God’s grace has redeemed my crooked nature, I also tend to be hyper-aware of the fact that I am no better than the next person, yet it often seems like God has blessed me more than others.
“There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?”
-Ecclesiastes 2:24-25
Talking with a friend once, I was glad to find that he often feels the same way. Like when we’re driving to school, anxious about making it there on time in our fully operational vehicle while a homeless person is walking alongside the road.
Why has God provided for my material needs when I deserve to be cast homeless from His kingdom?
“Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required”
–Luke 12:48
This verse comes from the parable about servants waiting for their master to return home. Jesus is alluding to how we, children of God exiled for a short time on this earth, do not know when our Father is returning but we do know the mission He’s left with us while we wait.
We have responsibilities to fulfill before He returns and there will be a day when we account for how we spent our time.
Each of us has been given a different skill set. We each have different resources and we each have different connections, but very little time. Life is but a vapor, the days are slipping away quickly and can be cut off at any point. Seize today!
God has equipped you in a certain way so you can effectively spread His fame throughout the earth. There is someone who will only hear the truth if it comes from you, so how are you pointing back to Christ?
“Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.”
-Ecclesiastes 5:19-20
Proverbs 3:9 tells us to “Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first produce of your entire harvest.”
“Possessions” is the word for abundant wealth or sufficiency and “first produce” as the earliest and best of the crop. The verse is saying that those who honor God with their wealth will receive more with which to honor Him.
Everything we could call our own is on lease from God. From the simple pleasures one can find in everyday life to each breath. Every ounce of good is a rhythm of God’s grace.
We should therefore be good stewards of our possessions and the people in our lives so Christ will be magnified. This is how we say “thank You” to God. Jesus gave His life for us. The least we can do is live every day for Him.