This is a guest post from my dear Jem. She likes hashtags and writes on her blog too. Check it all out here!
I wear glasses. I’ve been short-sighted from a young age. It’s not been so much of a problem ‘cos Spec-savers fixes that for me. However, there’s a short-sightedness that can ruin our lives if we don’t get our vision back quickly.
This weekend, I got really upset about not being able to do a few things. I’ve wanted to invest in property for a while now and not being financially capable made me really frustrated. All of a sudden, I felt I hadn’t achieved anything in life, I was not on the level of my peers and the cycle of thoughts sent me down a line of ingratitude and an all-time low.
Ingratitude. Don’t even get me started. This is the biggest killer of joy and the stealthiest thief of what you actually have. 2 Corinthians 10:12 states “When they measure themselves by themselves, they are not wise”. Whenever I think of this scripture, I am reminded that a standard has to be fixed, it should be a better template. Often, people and their lives are not fixed, they change all the time, they are not necessarily better but different. The path carved out for them is very different to yours. The moment we start looking at the little we don’t have, we lose sight on the abundance that we do have. If we were to make a list of things we have actually overcome or achieved, we will realise how blessed we are. It will cause you to rejoice (find joy again). That’s what gratitude does, it gives you another taste of the joy you experienced with regards to a thing or an event.
And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15
As I got further into the reflective cycle, I questioned myself on Greed. When did I get to the point where I was “chasing after” money? When did it become my focus?
It’s not a bad thing to desire to have investments and be successful on earthly standards. I believe we do have desires to make the most of our life and achieve something worthwhile.
But…Where does your hope lie? I had to pause and ask myself.
Does your hope and security come from your financial gains and earthly possessions or is it found in Christ?
The Bible is pretty clear that “God makes rich and adds no sorrow”, “He teaches your hands to get wealth” and at the end of the day “the earth is the Lord’s and all of it fullness”…Including your “wealth”. It’s all His in the first place, we’re only really stewards of what He owns.
It takes nothing, to lose all you have. Nothing. One natural disaster, one scam, one bad deal.
Maybe I don’t lose it. Maybe instead, He asks me to give it all up and follow Him, will I find it difficult? Will I be like the rich man – choosing to squeeze through the eye of a needle than enter freely into the kingdom of God? (Mark 10:25) That is a sobering thought.
“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity” Ecclesiastes 5:10
If all my efforts, my time, and focus is on being “wealthy” on earth and nothing towards eternity, what happens when my time on earth is done? I have to remember, none of those things are transferable to the next life. This current life is only but a brief moment in the span of eternity. This place is only a stop on the journey to the final destination. All earthly possessions are perishable and simply don’t compare to the non-perishable gifts we receive in the presence of our King.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” Matthew 6:19-21
Underpinning my quality of sight is the image in front of me. The writer of Hebrews did not stutter when He said “Look to Jesus…” That’s where hope, sustenance and joy lies.
Whether it’s a time of plenty or of empty, I will look to Jesus.
Whether I have been successful in using my skills and talents or I am still trying to put my life together, I will look to Jesus.
I will hope in Him
I will trust in Him
I will rely on Him
I will rejoice in Him
All that is around me, all that I have will pass away but …
The Rock of Ages, The one that remains the same yesterday, today and forever,
He will and does abide forever.
He is the focus of my vision.
In Him, I can trust.
#BeThouMyVision
#LookToJesus
#JesusIsBetter
#ItsNotAboutTheMoney
#BitterPillSweetTruth
Photo credit: Photos by FeyVored
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