Fear or Contentment: You Choose

Mt.24:1-2 (Msg) Jesus then left the Temple. As he walked away, his disciples pointed out how very impressive the Temple architecture was. Jesus said, "You're not impressed by all this sheer size, are you? The truth of the matter is that there's not a stone in that building that is not going to end up in a pile of rubble."  

  

Did you get that?   Jesus said…not one stone upon another. It occurred to me that he wasn’t just talking about the Temple in Jerusalem.  His words are actually a commentary on every building on everything that is constructed by the hands of man…..even if it has been done to God’s glory.   Nothing that we experience or see around us today is eternal. It will all be dismantled….and therefore, none of it has any eternal significance…..only temporary context.  

Jesus also said, Mat.6:19-21 (ESV) Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Much of the fear we carry in our hearts about poverty…about being poor, is based on an incorrect view of our place in God’s plan for His creation.  When we get to be thinking that this is all there is….even though from a Christian perspective that isn’t biblically sustainable to believe those things, we end up buying into the “I have to create it….I have to make it happen” model.  And when we find that we can’t do it….or when it breaks down….just as it eventually will….fear takes over.

   

Fear and anxiety come when we turn our eyes away from what God is doing and look at the world around us through the lenses of faithlessness to see what man can do with his own broken heart & hands.  And because we are broken and imperfect, because what we build with our own hands and our own sinful hearts…separated from what God might be doing in and through us is flawed, we experience imperfection, failure and ultimately fear.   Instead, we are called to keep our eyes on Christ and all of our needs will be met. Matthew 6:33 (NLT) Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.  Like everything else in life…it is a choice.