Day 37 - Let it Go!

This morning I spent £86.64 at our local supermarket. We are so blessed in our country to have so much choice and the money to enjoy it! But even so, money matters cause us so much stress. 

Jesus knew this and he spoke so beautifully about how God does not want us to worry about provision, recorded in the Gospels (see particularly Luke chapter 12). So... I used the word 'provision'. This means that God promises to provide for us, not that we should be lazy and expect it, because hard work is a good thing, but that our Father just wants to bless us. 

Money. It has a hold on everyone who uses it, if they let it. We are so prone to greed, and often it's the ones who have the most who are most unwilling to give it away! The Bible mentions money so many times I think it must be important for us to sit up and take note. In the first few centuries of the Christian Church there was a false teaching which has been called 'gnosticism' which is basically the separating of the so called 'spiritual' side of life from the ordinary, or 'secular'. What Christianity actually teaches is that we are whole people and God is interested in all aspects of our lives. Actually, how we deal with money is the barometer for our whole life. 

What it boils down to is this: do we trust God to provide for our physical needs or is He only Lord of our spiritual lives? Is He real and does He really care? Read the Luke scripture and you will see that He cares a lot. The way we show Him how much we trust Him is to give our money away joyfully and without worrying where the next meal is going to come from. Our capitalist society could actually work if the rich shared what they have with the poor! In St Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, chapter 9, it says 'God loves a cheerful giver'. Some people have said that the meaning of the word 'cheerful' comes from the same meaning as 'hilarious'. So why the hilarity? Because with giving comes freedom from the tyranny of having to own stuff, and freedom from the fear of not having enough! I'm in, Lord! That's how I want to live! :) :) :) :) :) :) :)