When you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.
-Deuteronomy 8:12-18
Lately I have been challenged in the area of sacrifice. Not sacrifice, for the sake of itself, (think Lent) but sacrifice that is private, and personal - between me and God. The things I choose to give up, in order to make a difference in the world around me.
Jesus says no one has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for the sake of the Gospel, who will not be rewarded 100 TIMES what he left behind. This is serious sacrifice. We're not talking about going without dessert for 40 days. We're talking about doing something with your life that is making lasting and eternal difference.
As I have been purging my house and decluttering, paring my life down to simplicity, I am using the opportunity to ask the difficult questions. Why do I go buy groceries when my freezer still has food in it? What makes me hang on to those new board games I don't play, when I know the youth centre is opening up and will get much use out of them? Why do I need 4 pairs of like new jeans, when there are so many who don't have decent clothing to wear? Why should I sell my new rocker that I don't use, when the Little Souls Daycare has need of it to feed their 9 babies? When Ken and I sold our home and everything we had to come to Regina, God blessed and rewarded that with His favour on the poor of this city.
But you don't have to start a Mission to make a difference. I wonder why someone wouldn't take a more practical spin on Lent. Why not commit to 40 days of attending every open program in your church? I mean, really participating! What about a 40 day fast of your evening news, in order to go serve supper at your local soup kitchen? What about forcing yourself to say hello and attempt to strike up a conversation every day on the bus ride to work, for the simple motive to bless someone? How about a phone call a day to a family member that hasn't heard from you but would be so encouraged to hear your voice! Grandma!!
The point is, the more comfortable we get, and the more attached to our possessions we get, the easier it is to forget the Giver of Life and all it's blessings. The moment we start to take credit for our own life and accomplishments, we are edging God out. My friend, Raphael, now in Heaven, used to remind me of that:
E-dging
G-od
O-ut
=EGO
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