Spending Yourself On Yourself

Get A Life! We have heard it or said it; usually to someone who seems to devote a lot of time to silly things or who leads a boring life. 

This is definitely not the Christian life, yet committed followers of Christ are sometimes viewed this way. “Get a life!” they say. Spend your money on yourself. Spend your vacation on yourself. Spend your retirement on yourself. You deserve it. You’ve earned it. Spend yourself on yourself!

But Jesus also speaks to us. In all four Gospels He warns, “The best way to destroy your life is to ‘get’ it!” (John 12:25). Matthew, Mark, and Luke similarly record, “What good does it do to get a life, and then lose it?” (e.g. Mark. 8:36)

We see how irrational this is when we understand that none of the things in life that we handle so casually are even OURS to begin with. Yes, we are talking stewardship here because according to the Bible, a steward cares for someone else’s property.

“Get a Life!” is then bad advice for a Christian on two counts: it is anti-discipleship and it is just plain wrong to steal or misuse another’s property.

This is something that we all spend our lifetimes learning and relearning but we make great strides when we acknowledge these two things and intentionally allow God to direct us. He will then lead us to places and into situations where we “get” the life God has for us – one of richness and abundance of blessing.

by Ray Shive in the Heartbeat section of Vital Signs newsletter

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