Aug 6, 2016
Another repost, this week from three years ago. Listen out for reference to a rubber Chicken.
Focus readings: Isa 1:1,10-20, Ps 50:1-11, 22-23, Heb 11:1-3, 8-16, Luke 12:32-40 DIRECT AUDIO DOWNLOAD: click here
The reason that the disciples could leave fishing, tax collecting, and all they had to follow Jesus was because they came to believe that they were in God’s hands and that in Jesus and all he did and taught The Kingdom of God had come near. As Jesus in from Luke 12:32 puts it, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
From a financial point of view I would love to be able to tell you that to be blessed by God you have to give all your spare cash to the church. I can’t do this however because our motivation to live the Christian life is not reward and punishment. It’s not a transaction- if we give God X God will give us Y. Instead our motivation should be thanksgiving. For if we know it's true that we have and will receive the Kingdom then we must live accordingly. We must live lives of thanks, not to get something out of God but because God gives us everything.
(To understand the rubber chicken picture you will have to listen to the audio.)
Question for thought or discussion. What do you have to thank God for? What sort of list can you come up with if you “count your blessings”?