No Greater Gift

Every night while getting little one to sleep I write blog posts in my head. Then I turn on the computer and...........nothing.

But tonight is different. I still have it swirling around in there somewhere.:)

Several weeks ago the sermon was about what we have. What we literally have as in physical possessions. I love hearing sermons like this one probably because I know they are pointed directly at me. One line in particular hit me like a ton of bricks. I've heard this before and can't quote it exactly, but it went something like this- "Give me your checkbook. Let me walk through your house. Let me take a peek at your calendar. Then, I'll tell you what you truly worship." YIKES!! HELLO?!?! Was he just preachin' to me?

Hubby and I have been in deep prayer about where God may be leading our family. We aren't searching for bigger and better. We aren't looking for what next adventure we may join in on. We just know that He's not finished with us, and pray that we will hear His clear voice that will navigate our journey.

We are so blessed. We have a great home with lots of land. It bothers me, to be quite honest, to have this place- for what reason? To look out my window every day and think how beautiful it is?! To selfishly enjoy the picturesque view every morning? Why are we here?

We live frugally (shopping at thrift stores for things we need or we do without)- could always do better at this though, I'm sure. But despite all of the things we do without and the ways we cut back, I'm afraid to show anyone our checkbook. Or have them look through our home or calendar. And why? Simply because I know that we get caught up in the earthly things that have no relevance to our eternal life. We are taught (by society) to hoard our money. Gather belongings. Make sure we are set for the day when we work no more, but I don't remember any mention of these things in the Bible.

I am afraid that God will tell me one day that I horribly missed out. That I was too focused on preparing for when I was old or fitting in or making the house look pretty. I'm afraid He'll tell me that these "things" took up too much space in my life and pushed aside the world, the people He wanted me to reach. I don't want to miss what God is calling me to do. I want to live so completely in Him that there is no question what my calling is.

I read this earlier tonight and it says everything I feel perfectly. And so I continue to pray without ceasing while listening for HIS PERFECT WORD!

A Basketful of Earth - #5053

A Word With You - Your Hindrances
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Ellis Island - that was the first piece of America that millions of immigrants ever touched. It's a little island in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. When you visit the island, there's a long, granite wall with thousands of names of immigrants who passed through there. This was the point of entry for all the immigrants coming through New York. They would book passage and get the cheapest price they could often down below decks. Finally, the boat would reach America, they would step off the boat and enter this long, red brick building on Ellis Island. It's cavernous; it echoes on the inside. But this is where they went through the steps that eventually permitted them to move from the island and on to their real destination, which was New York City and the rest of America. The tour guide says the people carried all their belongings in a basket. That was okay. They knew the island wasn't where they would live, so out of all those thousands who came there, not one ever set up a house there. They weren't going to be there very long.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Basketful of Earth."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Peter 1:1 . Peter writes to "God's elect, strangers in the world." Remembering that image of believers, in verse 17, he says, "Live your lives as strangers here, in reverent fear." In 1 Peter 2:11 he continues, "Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world to abstain from sinful desires." Peter says, "This isn't home, man." It's like the old hymn, "This world is not my home, I'm just a-passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue."

We're all immigrants according to the Bible. Earth is our Ellis Island. We have, oh, maybe seventy years here that are just the preparation for billions of years, but the quality of the billions of years is determined by how we live the seventy. Here's a question. If we're just immigrants passing through earth, why are we setting up so much stuff here on Ellis Island? In Luke 12 , Jesus addresses this issue of accumulation, and He says in verse 22, "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear." Then He says some radical stuff in verse 24, "Consider the ravens. They do not sow or reap. They have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds?" He's saying that for your security, you don't need a big stored-up reserve somewhere.

That's the opposite of everything we have been taught about security. Here is Biblical security. He says, "Your Father knows you have need of these things. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourself that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." There's no storeroom, no pile of earth stuff. Send it ahead to the place where you're going to live forever. Don't accumulate it in the place that you are just visiting.

We are all guilty of the sin of accumulating. We build that earth kingdom, earth reserves, earth security; get as much earth stuff as we can. One day, Jesus may come back and say, "What are you doing with all of that tied up? I had a world to reach." He calls us to live simply on this immigrant island and to pour everything else into eternal causes. Give to that for which He gave everything He had.

If you want a bank full of heaven, then be content with a basketful of earth.

In Him,

E