Luke 17:26-35 - What will you be doing?

²⁶ “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. ²⁷ People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

²⁸ “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. ²⁹ But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

³⁰ “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. ³² Remember Lot’s wife! ³³ Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. ³⁴ I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. ³⁵ Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”

Luke 17:26-35

This is a short post today.  But just ponder about this.  When Jesus comes back… where will you be and what will you be doing.  If he came right now, would you be ready?  Keep asking yourself this week.  If God came back now, would he find me glorifying his name?

Luke 12:15 – Greed

Then he said to them, “Watch out!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” ~ Luke 12:15

Greed (noun) - Intense and selfish desire for something, esp. wealth, power, or food.

The above verse is the one that stood out for me while reading my Bible this morning.  We live in a greedy society.  People are selfish and think only of themselves and their wealth and their power.

We live in a society where people are looking for a get rich quick scheme, where people won’t do anything out of the goodness of their hearts.  People are always looking for a way to make money from something.

Jesus warned against greed of all kinds, because there is more to life than your possessions.  For all you know you could die from an aeroplane crashing into your house at 2am in the morning, or in a car accident on the way to work.  We don’t know when God is going to call us home.  What is left?  Your children may benefit from your possessions, but because they didn’t have to work for them like you did, will they appreciate them?

I think about the problems in South Africa.  People in government positions drive around in brand new BMW’s and Mercedes Benz, but their neighbours, the people they grew up with, still sit in the rural villages without indoor plumbing or electric lights.  That is greed.  Greed for wealth and greed for power.

How am I better than these people though?  What do I give back?  People point fingers at government officials, but what are we doing to help the community we live in?  How many of us will go down to the park and start picking up the litter, then use our own fuel to take it to the garbage dump or recycling centre?  How many of us will volunteer at a disadvantaged school and teach the children to knit, sew or do woodwork?  How many of us cannot do these things to help because we are greedy about our time, the one thing we all have?

I am strongly against just giving something for nothing, because if a person get’s something for nothing then it won’t be looked after.  So offer to repaint the rural school, but get the children to help.  Remember the old saying “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Remember that when you give back.

This is a challenge to myself and those reading this… don’t be greedy with what you have, because you don’t know when God will call you home.

The Good Samaritan

This week, while doing my bible study, I read the story of the Good Samaritan.  If you are not familiar with the story, please read it in Luke 10:25-37.

After reading this I realised something interesting about the story for the first time.  No history was given of the man who had been robbed and left at the roadside.  This man could have been a robber himself, or a beggar, regular Joe, Nobleman, or king.  Nothing is said about this man.

The Good Samaritan helped this man without knowing anything about him.

So often we think people are beneath our help, or we find excuses not to help the person…

“The hitchhiker could be a murderer”

“That beggar could waste the money on alcohol and cigarettes”

“Somebody else will help”

“She should go home to her parents”

“He should be in school”

“It’s none of my business”

True, it is dangerous to pick up hitchhikers, especially in certain countries, so this is something, for safety sake I wouldn’t recommend.  But what is stopping you from giving money/food to the beggar?  You don’t have to invite him into your home, you can hand him a home cooked meal through the window of your car.  You can buy him a pie from the corner cafe.  You can help in more ways than just giving money.

Then the question is, how many people in your immediate area, are in need of a good meal?  What about your children’s friends?  Do you assume that they go home to a delicious meal cooked by their mom every night?  What if they don’t?  What if their mom works all day and buys them MacDonald’s every evening?

What about the student living in the next door neighbour’s basement?  Or the widow at church?  Or the newly married couple with 2 young children and a third on the way?  When did that lady last have a meal she didn’t cook herself?

What about the couple going through marriage problems?  When last did they have an evening to themselves without needing to worry about the children?  Couldn’t you offer to babysit for an evening so they can have dinner together?

Being a good Samaritan doesn’t mean you need to pick people up off the street, take them to the hospital and then pay their medical bills too.  It can also be done in small ways.  Cooking a meal.  Babysitting.  Providing company to the elderly.

Ask yourself:

How can I be a good Samaritan today?

Readers, I want to hear from you.  In what small ways has somebody be a good Samaritan to you?  In what small ways can you be a good Samaritan to others?  Feel free to leave a comment with your good Samaritan idea's and stories.

The Comfort of the Rich (Giving Back)

But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. ~ Luke 6:24 (New International Version)

I take a look at the world around me and I see rich Godly people, or rather people who think they are Godly.  They have pretty houses.  They have nice cars.  They live a life that appears to be filled with luxury.  They have every comfort their heart desires.

I then take a look at the poorer Godly people.  What they have they tend to share because they are constantly aware that there is someone less fortunate than themselves.  There are poor people who give all they can to further the church of God, believing that God will reward them when they get to heaven.  These people may not have running water in their homes.  They may not have electricity.  They may not have more than 2 rooms (and by 2 rooms I mean living area and sleeping area).  Their homes may be made out of course materials, but these people make the most of it and they are, for the most part, happier than the wealthy rich people, because these people know that God is their salvation and if they follow God’s commands then they will be blessed, if not in this life then in the next.

Then I take a look more in depth at the lives of these rich people.  Some of them are working 12 hours a day to maintain this lifestyle.  Others have no true friends at all.  And yet others hardly have any family to speak of.  A lot of these rich people are selfish.  They care only for the wealth of this world.

I take a look more closely at the lives of the poorer Godly people.  Some of them are working 12 hours a day to survive, but they have friends and they have family.  They are unselfish and share the little they have.  They care only about surviving, serving God and serving others.

How different the world once was.  I remember hearing a story about a fairly wealthy man who was born in 1890.  He very rarely gave money to a church.  He also very rarely gave money to charity.  But he did something far greater than either of these things.  He gave 3 people employment and provided a loving home for a wife who was not an intelligent women in the modern sense, but had a good heart (you can read her story at the end of my What are you living for? post).  What I want to focus on about his life was that he gave 3 people employment.  That was how he gave back to the community.  He employed a poor person to work his garden and help as a handyman in his home.  He employed another poor person to be a full-time cook.  And he employed another poor person to be a full-time maid in his house. 

This man was fairly wealthy, but he was giving.  When the fruit trees in his garden overflowed with their fruit, he didn’t store it up and let it go off.  He would pick out the best and take it to his poorer neighbours.  He would send some home with his servants.  When there were roses blooming in the garden, he would pick one and put it in a vase on his daughter’s dressing table for her to find when she got home from school.

My point is, in this, that he shared his comforts with the people around him, unlike in the modern world where people store up their comforts here on earth.  They have their happiness in their selfish richness, and Jesus said that will not end well for them.

What sorrow awaits you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now ~ Luke 6:24 (New Living Translation)

But we can overcome this problem.  We can God’s commands.  We can “Do good and share with others” as said in Hebrews 13:16 and we can:

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ~ Matthew 6:20 (New International Version)

Do good to others.  You don’t have to employ a cook, a gardener or a maid, but when you buy things, buy from poor people who are doing everything they can to provide for their family.  People who are just trying to break even at the end of the month and are not trying to build up their riches here on earth.

Buy homemade products instead of products made by big corporations.  Visit the farmers market instead of the grocery store.  Go to the corner cafe instead of the MacDonald’s.  Give back in your community rather than to the corporate world.  And what is more, write letters of thanks to people who have blessed you.  Follow up and build relationships with the people here on earth.  Be a witness to your family, friends and community!

Introduction

Welcome!  This is my spiritual blog.  In this blog I will discuss the things I have learned during my walk with Jesus Christ.  I hope you enjoy it and learn something out of it too.