It’s the areas of finances that it’s particularly irksome.
It’s the thinking that this much goes to God and the rest is for me.
Finances is one area, but it is indicative of approaches to life as a whole. God will get this time of the week and the rest is for me. God will get this much of my attention and the rest is for me.
It’s a division of life.
That works for some people. In their head it makes sense. This is for God – this is for me.
I was even hearing someone talking about it as it relates to marriage and sex. There’s what goes on in public and then there’s what goes on behind closed doors where no one knows and that’s just down to me and my loved one.
It’s irksome to me because this division of life is really not just unnecessary but actually unhelpful in understanding what took place when I pledged allegiance to God and His rule in my life as well as the world.
It’s evident reading about episodes in scripture where the entire lives of people were given over to the plan of God. They married whoever God told them to marry. They lived wherever God told them to live. Their occupation was directed by the Lord. All their resources were at the disposal of God to use as He saw fit. Their thinking and doing were more and more patterned after His will, His desire, His way.
The idea of devotional time for God was bizarre to them because all of life was devoted to God. The idea of having their own money and giving God His money was odd because everything they had belonged to God. The idea of having their own time to do their own thing and then allotting some time for God stuff was alien because God was involved in all of time.
That approach didn’t come naturally and wasn’t always something they necessarily enjoyed at the time. It was something they gave themselves over to over time, because there was clearly greater delight and joy from living from Him as the source of all there is, rather than looking to be a source for themselves or by at least having a share in being the source.
These lives are mapped out before me both in scripture and in life. Witnessing them and observing the challenges and the victories makes me know whether I like it or not, that when God called for everything to be His – it is reasonable and it is possible.
God help us all.
(Photo by Bruno Martins on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 