"If you don't see the real me, you won't see what love has won..." Vota

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Our idea of fun is warped-- at least as it lines up with the Bible.

So what do you want to do this year? I want to make a difference. I just think that our American idea of Christianity is not up to par with what Jesus intended. I want to draw nearer to Him and I want to lead others to Him as well. I'm tired of feeling sorry for myself when I get the sniffles, or when I can't afford a luxury I desire. You know how many people are dying every day from simple preventable diseases. You know how many people do not have access to a medical clinic, much less have the home and cell phone number of their doctor? The number of children dying everyday because they are starving is astounding? Yeah, yeah, you may think you have been hungry, but have you ever been close to death because of it?

What is sad is that the poorest of the poor in our country are loaded compared to many other countries. I am sitting in the top like 3.17% of the world's wealthiest people. Our family is number 190,434,783 on the world's wealth list (give or take a few for my estimations). That means that like 6 billion people fall behind us in the list. That does not make me proud. It makes me want to do something more. I have read of and hear of people downsizing and moving into smaller homes to rid themselves of a mortgage payment so they could give 50% of their income away. Wow, the $800 dollars a month spent on a mortgage would feed thousands of people in Haiti. How many clean water wells would that dig? There are babies who are dying from drinking nasty water-- adults too. You think this makes God smile on us fat and happy here in our mansions and luxurious living conditions? For some reason I see Him distraught as He has blessed us with so stinking much and we just say thanks and hold up our cups for more. Oh, we may give a little here and there, but how often have we given till it hurts? What we do is give just enough to make our consciences appeased.

We make excuses and say- God wants us to be happy. Really? He wants us to be happy, but wants millions to die from starvation and malnutrition? I don't think so. If we are to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves shouldn't we give them as much as we give ourselves? Do we want God's leftovers? God loved us enough to give Himself-- His son-- part of who He was. We love Christ by giving what we have leftover after feeding ourselves, outfitting ourselves in the latest fashions and paying our steep mortgages.

I'm talking about me, but I bet you could fit yourself into this equation somewhere. It doesn't matter how much I give, it is not enough. It is not nearly to the extent God gave. Not that we could ever give what God gave, but if this is how we know what love is, and we are commanded to love one another, shouldn't we at least try? We have a way to pay off our mortgage. We do. I bet many of us have the ability to sell things and pay off our debt. It takes a lot of hope and faith and love to do it; the Bible says the greatest of these is love. It would take a lot of love to do this-- love for others. The Bible reminds us to store our treasures in heaven, so every time we collect another treasure on earth we sacrificed a treasure in heaven. I have lots of treasure here on earth-- apparently more than 96% of the world's population. What does that mean about where I stand in the lineup in heaven. The Bible says that the first on earth shall be the last in Heaven. So if this is Truth (and it is) then I am currently positioned behind 96% of the world's population in the line for heavenly treasure. Maybe, maybe not, but what if? Yes many, many of these people are headed for a Christless eternity so this bumps me up a few people in line-- dang just making this point is so ridiculous and disgusting... I am commanded to make disciples of these people and am not, do you think it makes me look better if they are not headed to Heaven? What I need to do is work my tail end off giving like never before and living the love I have for Christ. If I love Him I will do what He commands. Jesus said so. What more can I say?

It is a painful truth that we are falling way short of what Jesus desired of us. He said that from those who are given much, much will be required. Well I would say that we have been given so much more than much. What is required of us is much more than what we are giving. We will be held accountable for those we do not help. What if that baby-- those 26,000 people who died today from starvation were Jesus. How did we help Him? He said that for everyone of the least of these that we help we are helping Him-- loving Him. How many people did you love today? How many people did I love today? Not a single one as I hung out at the house making scarves with my girls for their doll babies. Yeah, we made scarves for the dolls while there are people out in the cold freezing. Our idea of fun is warped-- at least as it lines up with the Bible.

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