Weight or Weighty?
Are you consumed with your weight? Well, you wouldn't be alone there. Any grocery store checkout will show you that. Slapped on the cover of anything from Good Housekeeping to Glamour, you'll find plenty of promises for the perfect food, diet, or exercise to give you that trim body you've been wanting.And while the Bible mentions, on rare occasions, that someone was fat, it is much more concerned with a person's moral weightiness.
As I think of Moses, Gideon, Esther, and Samson, I think of people with weight who didn't set out to be so, but were rather chosen of God. Moses had absolutely nothing to do with his special set of circumstances, but things could have turned out much differently, as Samson has shown, had he behaved in a different manner.
So, to, all of us have been put into families that we didn't chose. It makes a vast difference in our lives whether we were born in America or Sudan. But, there are some constants for everyone. We all, for instance, have twenty four hours in the day in which we move and operate, and that is the crux of the matter. Will we spend the time wisely or frivolously? Will we have an eternal or an earthly view?
I study people. What makes them tick? Why do they behave in the manner that they do? I've seen people who go through every day, one foot in front of the other. Their lives are very vanilla, and they are ok with that. Others are very driven. They are always working on goals, short or long. And then, of course, there are those who fall into the middle.
Money makes the world go round, at least for some. And while we can't escape that fact, some are more absorbed than others. In fact, for many, that's all that matters; how much they can accumulate. Then, there are those who are going to grab all of the gusto they can get. Does that make you think of beer? Yeah, me, too. It was no accident that I used that word . And while gusto can be a great thing, if it means you're living your life for pleasure, you're living a shallow life, indeed.
Finally, there are those who are wise because they understand that their lives are but a vapor. Further, they are aware that there is going to be a reckoning some day. They don't want to hear things like, "I was a stranger and you did not invite me into your home, I was naked and you didn't cloth me, I was sick and in prison, and you did not look after me."
To clear up any confusion, we don't make it to heaven based on how many good deeds we do. All our righteousness is as filthy rags. We are accepted based on our relationship with Jesus. Do we believe he is the son of God? Are we willing to humble ourselves, admit that he alone is perfect, and accept the sacrifice he made on our behalf? If so, our lives are not our own. He created us to do good works. This is how we become weighty in a world that is consumed with weight. Virtually everything that the world values is of little consequence to God. When God weighs, it will be measuring the heart, and many will come up lacking on those scales.
I challenge you to gain weight. How do we do that? Do we look at the check off list? Ok, where's a stranger I can invite into my home? To whom can I give some clothing? Where can I sign up for prison ministry? No, not at all. Looking to Jesus, you will probably be able to check off all of those, and more, but that's not the way it works. If you have a willing heart, he will show you what to do. He will bring opportunities your way on a daily basis. There will be tasks, big and small. Some days, you may not even be aware that you have done a good dead unless you analyze your day. And if, by chance, you do analyze your day and can think of nothing, you are under no condemnation. Tomorrow is another day.
My goal is to hear, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." There will be rewards in heaven for every good deed we have done here on earth, but I believe that living a life of good deeds has its own reward. Won't you, then, with me, look not only to your own interests, but to the interests of others.
As I think of Moses, Gideon, Esther, and Samson, I think of people with weight who didn't set out to be so, but were rather chosen of God. Moses had absolutely nothing to do with his special set of circumstances, but things could have turned out much differently, as Samson has shown, had he behaved in a different manner.
So, to, all of us have been put into families that we didn't chose. It makes a vast difference in our lives whether we were born in America or Sudan. But, there are some constants for everyone. We all, for instance, have twenty four hours in the day in which we move and operate, and that is the crux of the matter. Will we spend the time wisely or frivolously? Will we have an eternal or an earthly view?
I study people. What makes them tick? Why do they behave in the manner that they do? I've seen people who go through every day, one foot in front of the other. Their lives are very vanilla, and they are ok with that. Others are very driven. They are always working on goals, short or long. And then, of course, there are those who fall into the middle.
Money makes the world go round, at least for some. And while we can't escape that fact, some are more absorbed than others. In fact, for many, that's all that matters; how much they can accumulate. Then, there are those who are going to grab all of the gusto they can get. Does that make you think of beer? Yeah, me, too. It was no accident that I used that word . And while gusto can be a great thing, if it means you're living your life for pleasure, you're living a shallow life, indeed.
Finally, there are those who are wise because they understand that their lives are but a vapor. Further, they are aware that there is going to be a reckoning some day. They don't want to hear things like, "I was a stranger and you did not invite me into your home, I was naked and you didn't cloth me, I was sick and in prison, and you did not look after me."
To clear up any confusion, we don't make it to heaven based on how many good deeds we do. All our righteousness is as filthy rags. We are accepted based on our relationship with Jesus. Do we believe he is the son of God? Are we willing to humble ourselves, admit that he alone is perfect, and accept the sacrifice he made on our behalf? If so, our lives are not our own. He created us to do good works. This is how we become weighty in a world that is consumed with weight. Virtually everything that the world values is of little consequence to God. When God weighs, it will be measuring the heart, and many will come up lacking on those scales.
I challenge you to gain weight. How do we do that? Do we look at the check off list? Ok, where's a stranger I can invite into my home? To whom can I give some clothing? Where can I sign up for prison ministry? No, not at all. Looking to Jesus, you will probably be able to check off all of those, and more, but that's not the way it works. If you have a willing heart, he will show you what to do. He will bring opportunities your way on a daily basis. There will be tasks, big and small. Some days, you may not even be aware that you have done a good dead unless you analyze your day. And if, by chance, you do analyze your day and can think of nothing, you are under no condemnation. Tomorrow is another day.
My goal is to hear, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." There will be rewards in heaven for every good deed we have done here on earth, but I believe that living a life of good deeds has its own reward. Won't you, then, with me, look not only to your own interests, but to the interests of others.
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