Friday, July 3
Read: Luke 12
I had my daily schedule: go to classes, study in the library, find meals somewhere in between, and at 11:30 I would relax in my room and watch Late Night with Conan O’Brian. I know, not too exciting, but it worked for me. It was comfortable. Yet I found myself lacking in my prayer life, I noticed I was not spending nearly enough time in the word. I got distracted amongst my classes, studying, and my Conan that I started to loose focus of what was the main thing.
In Luke 12, Jesus is expressing how essential it is for us to focus on what is truly important. We are given this parable of the rich fool, a parable only found in the gospel of Luke. The message is simple, the rich fool focused his entire life on his wealth, so that is where his treasure was. But when his time came to die, all that had in the world was lost. He stored nothing in God, he had no treasure in heaven. This is why the man is foolish. His wealth clouded his vision to see the true treasure found in God.
Right after he tells this parable, Jesus gives the disciples this message to not worry about their life (v. 22-24). Here is a difficult lesson for anyone to practice. Our humanistic inclination is to worry about the little things. But Jesus is telling us that God will take care of us. It becomes a trust issue. Are you trusting that God will take care of us, even through the little things of life? Jesus tells us that these things such as food and cloths are not of importance now that we know Christ and of God’s Kingdom. We should place our importance on the things that truly matter, focus on aspects of the Kingdom. “But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given.” (v. 31).
I got locked up in my daily schedule, focused on what needed to be done. I even placed a stronger emphasis in a time for me to unwind (Conan O’Brian time). But I knew I was lacking in my faith to God. I got caught up in things of the world, that I actually distanced myself from the kingdom. That’s when I began to place more time on Christ. I went on prayer walks and would not let myself watch Conan unless I did my daily devotional. I began to invest my time on God, to invest my riches on the kingdom of Heaven. In this Chapter, Jesus is telling us that as a disciple of Christ we must keep the main thing the main thing. To him the main thing is the kingdom of God, and that is where our heart should be. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (v.34).
Process
-Are there things of this world that you tend to place a stronger emphasis on than on the kingdom? What is your heart focused on? Is it the kingdom of God?
-Jesus here is talking about us not too worry about little things such as food, our body, or cloths. But what about the big things? Can we worry about those big things that truly matter in our lives? Is the God a part of these big things that we worry about?
-Do you have faith to trust that God is providing for you with the essentials of life? We are much more valuable than bird in God’s eye, we must have the faith to trust in the Father’s care for us.
-We have been given an awesome gift, an inheritance in the kingdom of God and to live an eternal life with Christ! “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded” (v. 48). It is our duty to Christ to uphold the kingdom in our lives, for he has entrusted us with it. I can’t help but think of the words of uncle Ben from spider-man, “With great power comes great responsibility.” We have that responsibility to God and for his Kingdom.