Where’s Your Wealth?

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; [20] but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal (Matt. 6:19-20, NKJV).

I wonder if our Lord had termites in mind when He spoke those words about moth and rust destroying our treasure?  The Associated Press reported about how those pesky creatures devoured money worth thousands of dollars:

It was an all-you-can-eat buffet at the bank. An army of termites munched through 10 million rupees ($222,000) in currency notes stored in a steel chest at a bank in northern India. The bank manager discovered the damage when he opened the reinforced room in an old bank building.  A police officer told The Associated Press, "It's a matter of investigation how termites attacked bundles of currency notes stacked in a steel chest." The money was put in the chest in January, 2011. In the past, termites had damaged bank furniture and documents. The police have registered a case of negligence against the bank officials.

Where is your wealth?  Jesus advises us to invest in heavenly treasure, which will never be ravaged by any earthly power or creature.  Are you rich in heavenly treasure?

Our God Who Doesn’t Change

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17, NIV).

How do you deal with change?  Do you feel like a “typewriter” living in an “ipad” age?  Life is changing rapidly.  Change is not the issue.  How we relate to change is the issue.  Preaching Today reports on the last company in the world to produce typewriters:

This past week, Godrej and Boyce, the last company in the world to produce typewriters, finally shut down its production plant. They still have an inventory of a few hundred machines—mostly in Arabic—if you need to buy one. This marks an end of an era for a piece of equipment that dominated the office communication scene (the first typewriter was produced in the U.S. in 1867). The manager of Godrej and Boyce said, "We are not getting many orders now"—definitely a wild understatement.

Isn’t it wonderful to know that no matter how fast change occurs, it always lags behind the ways of our God who stands behind, before, and beyond the latest gadgets and fascinations of our age.  Jesus is not only timely; He is timeless.  In fact, He is the only Being in the universe who does not change.  We should relate to change in the same way that He does: expect it and respond to the Lord through it (not react).  Nowhere does change seem to threaten more than in the church.  Yet, we should not fear it; our Lord simply calls us to follow Him through it. 

Justice

For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. . . .  For he is God’s minister to you for good.  But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil (Romans 13:3a,4, NKJV).

            You will probably remember for a long time where you were when you heard the news of the death of Osama Bin Laden.  Around eleven o’clock in the evening on Sunday, May 1, 2011, the news spread around the world that the arch-enemy of America, the face of evil and terrorism, Bin Laden, had been assassinated by a special forces unit of our military.

            It is interesting that the responses of Americans have been varied.  While most have welcomed the news, some have questioned why any should celebrate the death of an individual.  However, it must be noted that justice was served yesterday.  Bin Laden met his expected end.  Bin Laden will face even more justice when the ungodly (without a relationship to God through Jesus Christ) will be summoned before the Great White Throne of God to answer for their deeds.  Such a moment looms ahead for any who live outside God’s grace expressed in Jesus Christ. 

            Should we celebrate Bin Laden’s death?  Maybe.  But it should be a sober celebration.  We should remember our Lord’s admonition: “But unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3).

Built to Last

The rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock (Matthew 7:25).

How do you feel when a brand new purchase breaks immediately upon using it?  It wasn’t built to last!  Greg Asimakoupoulos writes about some homes that were built to last:

On October 19, 2010, a test was conducted at the Institute for Business and Home Safety in Richburg, South Carolina. Researchers constructed two 1,300-square-foot houses inside a $40 million laboratory and then observed how a simulated hurricane would impact the homes.  The first home was built according to conventional standards. The second home included reinforcement straps that connected every level of the building, from the foundation all the way to the roof. Then the researchers turned on giant fans, creating gusts of wind up to 110 miles per hour (equal to a category 3 hurricane). In the first two experiments, which lasted under ten minutes, both homes survived the intense winds. But when they tried a third experiment, turning on the fans for more than ten minutes, the conventional home began to shake and then collapsed. In contrast, the home with the floors and roof reinforced to the foundation sustained only cosmetic damage.

Are you built to last?  Jesus calls upon us to build our lives on the firm foundation of His life.  Will you base your life on obedience to His Word?  The storms will come, but they will leave you untouched and undamaged.

One Thing

This one thing I do . . . (Phil. 3:13).

How are you at multitasking?  Can you do many things well at the same time?  A Stanford News Service article focused on the price many are paying in the area of focus when they involve themselves in so many activities at the same time.  The article entitled, “Media Multitaskers Pay Mental Price,” chronicles how many multitaskers are suffering from impaired performance.  They are losing their ability to focus as their cognitive abilities become overloaded.  The article begins, “Attention, multitaskers (if you can pay attention, that is): Your brain may be in trouble.”   The article continues:

 The researchers originally set out to discover what gave multitaskers their special focus; instead, they were surprised to discover that in many ways multitasking impairs performance. So while many people think they're effective at juggling multiple tasks, they're actually pretty lousy at it.  For instance, heavy multitaskers are suckers for distraction and for irrelevancy. According to one of the researchers, "Everything distracts them." Multitaskers were also more unorganized in their ability to keep and retrieve information. They were even worse at the main thing that defines multitasking: switching from one task to the next. Heavy multitaskers underperformed in almost every area of the study.

 

Paul knew the power of focus, of doing one thing well.  He knew that by doing less, one can do more.  Are you losing your focus by trying to do too much?  Why not simplify?

Mountain Mover

Not lagging in diligence (Romans 12:11, NKJV).

What would you do with an insurmountable obstacle?  A man from India did what he could with what he had.  Van Morris writes,

When a mountain is in your way what do you do? Just ask Ramchandra Das, 53, who lives in Bihar, India. In order to access nearby fields for food and work, Das and his fellow villagers had to take a 4.3-mile trek around a mountain. Fed up with the obstacle, Das did something about it. With just a hammer and chisel, he cut a 33-foot-long, 13-foot-wide tunnel through a narrow area of the mountain. It took Das fourteen years to complete the task. 

Would you stay at a task for fourteen years?  Das did what he could with what he had.  His perseverance has not only benefitted his family, it has benefitted the villagers, as well. This mountain mover sweat, chiseled, and dug for others for almost a decade and half.  Will we be diligent for others?

Take Ownership

He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy (Proverbs 28:13, NKJV).

Have you ever owned up to a mistake?  Did you find that to be a pleasurable experience?  Probably not.  Adi Ignatius writes about how Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz, took responsibility for the corporate mismanagement of the coffee chain during the years 2001-2008.  He actually assumed responsibility for company decisions made prior to his return to corporate leadership.  Such humility and honesty made his confession even more powerful.  Ignatius quotes Schultz:

When I returned in January 2008, things were actually worse than I'd thought. The decisions we made were very difficult, but first there had to be a time when we stood up in front of the entire company as leaders and made almost a confession—that the leadership had failed the 180,000 Starbucks people and their families. And even though I wasn't the CEO…I should have known better. I am responsible. We had to admit to ourselves and to the people of this company that we owned the mistakes that were made. Once we did, it was a powerful turning point. It's like when you have a secret and get it out: The burden is off your shoulders.

Scripture still offers the best response to our failures and mistakes: take ownership.  God receives our confession, removes our sin, and releases His grace into our lives.  Make confession and move on.  The enemy will try to get you to stop and stay as he maximizes your failure and minimizes God’s grace.  Don’t do it.  “The burden is off your shoulders.”  Take ownership and take off!