“What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.”
1Cor 7:29-31 NIV
Yesterday a friend was sandwiched in by two ladies at the bazaar, to the point that she had trouble moving. What she didn’t know what that a third lady took a razor and sliced the bottom of her bag open and stole her wallet with $100 in it.
A guy at work went to USA and bought a $1300 canon. He loaned it to a buddy and when he got it back, the flash is broken. He can’t just take it to get it fixed, but the guy that borrowed it has no money. They had a talk to each other about it.
My wife said yesterday about our friend and her purse, “What if we caught them and just told them not to steal, but then handed them all the money anyway?”
wow.
What if we really used the things of the world as if not engrossed in them. I wouldn’t worry about all my tech junk. I would not own it as if it was mine to keep.
I think there is a promised land waiting for us on the other side of our possessions. Sure, in the visible world we might lose a few thousand bucks worth of junk from accidents, people taking advantage of us, etc. But I think in the invisible world we will gain more blessings and growth than you could buy for millions.
I remember earlier in my walk I loaned a guy some money, like $150-250 bucks. I remember thinking several times, “Now would be a great time for him to pay me back — hey, what is that new MP3 player he has?” and being bitter.
Sometimes when I go to the store and I know I’m going to the next store and to the bakery and some other places, I put my change in one pocket and keep my big bills in my wallet. That makes it easier to whip out a dollar here and a dollar there instead of flashing my fifties and hundreds around to my fifty cent baker or beggar kids coming for spare change.
I know I have grown a lot since my early days of bitter loans because I see my loans not as much as me giving money away and hoping to get it back someday so I can use it for myself, but I see it as God moving HIS money from one pocket to the other.
If it stays in the pocket of sew and sew, it will just sit, it won’t get spent, and supplies for the Kingdom won’t get bought. So God moves the change, often the little stuff by comparison, to another pocket, so it will get spent on the kingdom faster.
It’s all His anyway, and when He’s ready, the fives will burn at the same temperature as the hundreds.