Tuesday, May 1, 2012

To whom much is given.

L and I comment sometime- both in truth and in jest - that if we take Jesus' words to his disciples in Luke 12:44 to heart, then he apparently must not trust us very much in the finances department. ;) In "jest" because truth be told we are richer than the majority of people in the world, in truth because the honest answer is that we still have a long ways to go to being faithful stewards of what God has entrusted to us financially. However, thanks to a cool little program called "YNAB (You Need A Budget), a husband that has been faithful to step up and lead our family in good decisions, and the Lord's good and gracious work in my own life and heart, we are getting better now. Not that we we were carrying a ton of debt or anything, but we still were not in a place of freedom to be able to "go and send" the way we wanted to and the way we know we are called to. I still have a lot of work to do in this area though. To be honest, when I consider what it would be like to have a bigger income, I almost always jump to the things in life that would be "easier" rather than the ways I could support and sustain and engage in the advance of the gospel. My flesh tendency is to use money to bastion the walls of this earthly castle, surrounding and protecting my own investments - family, friends, future - rather than consider whether God may be testing and proving me to be faithful with money He wants to place in the hands of those on the front lines of advancing the gospel. I know there are a ton of people in this world that have been given exuberant amounts of money who spend it on their own pleasures with no thought of Gods desires or plans. And of course I look at them sometimes with jealous eyes and with a coveting heart, wanting the life of ease they portray as they lounge on their yachts and eat their chef-prepared food while their nanny entertains their baby and they discuss the atrocity of their condo becoming unavailable to them next month, and "Oh my god, what ARE we going to do?" (Okay, so maybe I would rather throw up in my mouth than have that kind of life). But still, some days I definitely do catch myself thinking that somewhere in between would definitely be a little nicer all around. But the point I think Jesus was trying to make in the passage above was actually one that makes the "richer" life the more difficult one. The servant was expected to still serve to the pleasure of the master regardless of whether or not his master was present. And when the master returned, the state of the household spoke for the integrity of the servant. I do think that God cares and is saddened by those who are careless and wasteful with their finances. He will return and set all things right one day, to the shame of those who have been self-serving with the resources he gave to them. His justice is perfect and righteous and good, and He will redeem all things to His glory one day. Until then, we are all servants that have been trusted with the management of His kingdom here on earth, and we are called to be faithful with all things He has entrusted to us. And as we continue in this process of sanctification, my belief is that He will continue to provide us with the things we need and give us an abundance only so that we can further the advance of His name to all the world, and hasten His return and our salvation from a world that is truly fading.

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