The Advent Conspiracy: Spending Less
Today, Jason talked about the second point of the Advent Conspiracy - that of "Spending Less." You may recall that in the Advent Conspiracy, we are asked to think about how we can give ourselves relationally like God did when He sent His Son, Emmanuel, God with us.
We read from Matthew 6:19-21 which says "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Jason told us that the Jews believed that material wealth was equal to God's blessing. But Jesus came to them and said "Blessed are the poor..." Jesus told us in this passage not to hoard treasure on earth which are material possessions but rather, we should store our treasures in heaven by being His hands and feet, by showing unconditional love and by giving relational gifts because these are things that last. Jesus is ultimately our treasure and if He really is, we'll do what He wants and our lives will show it. All of our lives will be worship to Him and "spending less" ultimately is meant to draw us closer to God.
Question of the Week: How does your life reflect what you treasure?
Labels: Advent
posted by Jewels @ 2:57 PM
2 Comments:
When my father-in-law was dying I helped him with his check book, the day before he died. I was shocked to see the $200. dollar checks he was writing week after week to support local and world wide ministry. He was giving all his money away, where God would be honored and needs would be met. It was astonishing. I have often heard it said that if you want to see what is important to a person, where their treasure really lies, look into their check book. What a lesson.
That's a great story. Frankly, I'd be a little freaked out to show someone my checkbook/bank statements. But then again, we pay for almost everything in cash so there's not much of a paper trail to follow in the first place.
Thanks again for the story of your father-in-law. That was very encouraging with some great lessons for all of us.
-J
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