I’ve come to realize over the last few years that I’m what I’ve come to call a “once-and-for-all” kinda girl.  I don’t like the things I have to do over and over and over and over, which I’ve come to realize is the majority of things in life: bills, laundry, dishes, cleaning up the living room, vacuuming the floor, pulling weeds, cleaning the toilets, and unfortunately the list goes on and on and on. . . .  I would rather be able to do something very well once, tie it up in a nice package with a beautiful bow on top, and put it away, knowing “I’ll never have to deal with that again.” Yet, very few things in life afford us such a luxury.

God teaches me so much, even through the mundane, every day stuff, that much of the time is the stuff that I hate doing.  He’s constantly reminding me: 1) that this world is not my home, 2) it’s never going to be perfect here, so don’t waste too much time trying to make it perfect (b/c even if it seems that way for the moment – it will NOT remain that way in the long run), and 3) the only thing tied up in a neat little box with a beautiful bow is the fact that I’ll be in Heaven with Him one day because of the price that Jesus paid for me on the cross – and the rest of the stuff will be insignificant then.  The only thing that matters in this life is LOVING Him and LOVING others.  The greatest commandments according to Jesus when asked  ³⁶  “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” ³⁷ Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’^[a] 38 This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:36-40

So I’m trying to learn to keep my priorities straight.  Sure we should be good stewards of all the nice things God has provided for us, but remember that  we are stewards, not owners/masters (sole person owning and in charge of property) or slaves (held against your will, made to work without compensation).

So be a good steward, take care of what you have until directed to give it away or share it with others in order that they may know the Father’s Love as well.  But don’t let what you are to be a steward of become your master.  Sin comes in many forms and when God confronted Cain BEFORE he killed his brother Abel HE said, “⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:6-7)   If he had obeyed, maybe term “Raising Cain” would have a positive connotation.

Even in doing good/lawful/okay “stuff” we can go overboard or have it work against us. “¹² All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.” (I Corinthians 6:12) I usually put this particular scripture selection in context with foods I shouldn’t eat.  I’ve learned recently that I am lactose intolerant.  I love many things that contain milk.  It’s Biblically and worldly permissible/lawful for me to eat/drink things with milk in them.  HOWEVER, and this is a HUGE HOWEVER, it is NOT profitable for me AT ALL.  I gain no nutritional value, and actually lose the value of anything else eaten along side of it.

So in conclusion:

1 – There are very few “Pretty Little Boxes” in this world – don’t get stuck in a rut of trying to make more

 

2 – Be a good steward – BUT don’t let the STUFF master you

 

3 – Not every ‘good’ thing is going to be ‘good’ for you, much less profitable

 

 

 

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Unless otherwise noted all verses in my blogs are NKJV

“Scripture taken from the New King James Version.

Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson,

Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

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