Sunday, December 16, 2012

The best things in life are not things.  In this world we are conditioned to accumulate. Buy,buy,buy...commercialization is huge in today's society. Filling up voids trying to make one feel better by having the latest bag or pair of shoes. I used to be one of those people who had to have the latest Fendi or BMW but you know what? I was miserable. I do believe for years I was highly favored and untouchable at my place of employment. But over time as I made more and more money, I spent and bought more and more things...home, cars, clothes, accessories, vacations, you name it. But what ended up happening was I was on a pinwheel. A pinwheel of wealth and debt. The more I made, the more I spent to the point I was working to  keep up with my lifestyle and my relationship with God suffered. I stopped attending church regularly which means I was putting work before church. Although I tithed, I would tithe monthly instead of weekly putting God before all other bills. I was so in fear of losing my job for fear my life would crumble around me. I was so dependent on my job, my employers, my paycheck that I forgot who provided it all to me. Can you imagine? And may I say, it all happened very slowly and before I knew it, I was in a rabbit hole. The Lord literally had to come to me and tell me like Abraham and so many others, to lay down my job, my security, my things, my marriage and my home to Him and walk away and follow Him. And I did. It has been a long a very hard road with many sacrifices and losses but I am at peace. No longer surrounded by things and excess living. I live a very simple life with simple treasures and I have deep founded joy and peace. The best things in life today are not my BMW, my blackberry, my wardrobe or my jewelry collection or even my financial portfolio but my love for the Lord. My gratitude for His love for me. His forgiveness and allowing me a second chance at life. The best things in life are His restoration and renewal of my marriage and home, my family and the blessed assurance that my Mother went home to be with Him. These are the things that are best in my life...today and always!

Luke 12:15-21

¹⁵ Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”¹⁶ And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.¹⁸ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’²¹ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”