{"id":65,"date":"2013-02-20T09:54:45","date_gmt":"2013-02-20T14:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.livingwaterscc.net\/lwblog\/?p=65"},"modified":"2013-02-20T09:54:45","modified_gmt":"2013-02-20T14:54:45","slug":"wasting-our-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.livingwaterscc.net\/lwblog\/2013\/02\/20\/wasting-our-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Wasting Our Time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Piles-of-money_400\" <\/div>\n<\/p>\n
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“Don’t weary yourself trying to get rich.  Why waste your time?  For riches can disappear as though they had the wings of a bird!” <\/em><\/p>\n

Proverbs 23:4-5, The Living Bible<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I’m not sure why The Lord is highlighting this verse for me this morning.  I honestly don’t think this is something that I currently struggle with.  I know that I tend toward “work-a-holism”, but money isn’t really my motivation.  I’m motivated by pride, arrogance, and a desire to make a name for myself among men.  Don’t misunderstand me.  Those are serious issues that require repentance any time they rear their ugly heads.<\/p>\n

I do see this happening all around me though.  We live in a culture that is obsessed with acquiring more and more “things” and “riches”.  We have a sense of entitlement, as though we deserve more than we have.  I see people working long hours, trying to climb the corporate ladder, all so they can “get more” and “have more”.<\/p>\n

I remember when I was working in Kane.  I was struggling with this very issue.  I remember vividly when God showed me what a materialist I had become.  I had fallen into a terrible trap.  God showed me that the more “things” I acquired, the more my bondage to those “things” increased.  I thought I owned my possessions, when in fact my possessions actually owned me!  There is wisdom in the quote, “What we strive to attain, we must strive to maintain.”<\/p>\n

Just because I learned that lesson several years ago doesn’t mean that I don’t occassionally fall back into those patterns.  I do.  Heavenly Father, when I begin thinking and acting that way I pray that You show me my folly.  Remind me that everything will eventually be tested by fire and only that which was done for you will remain.  Eventually, all of my possessions will crumble into dust.  How much wiser to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matt 6:33<\/a>)?  How much better to “lay up treasures for yourself in Heaven” (Matt 6:19-20<\/a>)?  That is the only wealth we should be concerned with acquiring.<\/p>\n

Lord, make me content with what I have.  Give me a willingness to be generous with the resources You have blessed me with.  Eradicate from within me any desire for riches or worldly wealth.  Protect me from making money or possessions an idol.  Keep me from the folly of seeking anything other than Your kingdom and Your righteousness.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Don’t weary yourself trying to get rich.  Why waste your time?  For riches can disappear as though they had the wings of a bird!” Proverbs 23:4-5, The Living Bible I’m not sure why The Lord is highlighting this verse for … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwaterscc.net\/lwblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwaterscc.net\/lwblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwaterscc.net\/lwblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwaterscc.net\/lwblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwaterscc.net\/lwblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwaterscc.net\/lwblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwaterscc.net\/lwblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwaterscc.net\/lwblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwaterscc.net\/lwblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}