Pondering, Again

As I read this verse... Luke 12:15 “And He said to them, 'Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

I began once again to ponder my accumulation of things. Do I covet? It brought me to the issue of contentment. Contentment? Yes, am I or would I be content with just what I have or less? Am I content with what God has for me? Hebrews 13:5 says, “Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' Which then brings us to an issue of trust. Do I trust God to do what He said He would do? Do I trust God to know what is best for me? Do I want to trust Him? Do I trust that He is who He says He is? He says He is good, righteous, loving, and faithful. Do I believe that?

Oh my! I have opened a can of worms, haven't I. It gives one pause to think or 'ponder.'

Let's see if we can get some of these worms back in the can.

Luke 12:15 was used as a New Testament interpretation or statement of the 10^th Commandment. Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.” If you are like me...when you read that you say, “Nope, I have no desire for an ox, not that my neighbor has one, or his donkey, (not that I wouldn't like to have a donkey, a cute, little miniature one) he doesn't have one of those either. So, I know I am not coveting. I'm good.” But read Luke 12:15 again, “And He said to them, 'Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Oh dear, “abundance of possessions”? Surely not, Lord. You can't mean that. I mean, I live in the land of abundance. The American Dream is to accumulate. Are You sure You want to say, “abundance of possessions” Lord?

In the end it is like I am the child arguing with my parent about whether or not I have done what they asked me to do. I know I haven't, I mean technically, I may have done what they said, but did I really do what they intended? 

God has richly blessed me and my family, beyond what I could have imagined. He wants me to enjoy what He has given, but... not so that it takes over my life and I forget who gave it to me and why He gave it. My focus should not be on the accumulation of things but on Him.  Do I struggle with the accumulation of things?  Of course, do you?  I want to live my life to bring glory to God and God alone.

Peace, Peace with God

I liked this defintion of the word "shalom" in Hebrew, "all things in their created place doing what they were created to do in loving relationship with their creator."  Having thought of the word "shalom" having the meaning of "peace, peace be with you" I found this definition to be thought
altering.  What if all things were in their created place, where God had placed them and wanted them were doing what God had created them to do and were doing it in loving relationship to Him; wouldn't that give peace to you and me.  Wow! Open your mind and think about it... it is mind boggling.  Everything God created, the trees, the bees, the birds, each individual person, all exactly where God wanted them and doing exactly what He wanted them to be doing.  Whether it was to be pollinating the flowers, loving a neighbor, singing a song of praise, giving oxygen to the world...whatever it is that God created it or them to do, they were doing it.  What a wonderful, peaceful, beautiful life that would be.  Maybe that is what heaven is like. Then add this verse, "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules."  Ezekeil 36:26-27  It is God who gives us a new heart, one that is tender and soft and He gives us a new Spirit that causes us to walk in the way, His way and obey His rules.
He is the one that causes us to desire peace, peace with Him.  He causes us to desire to be in the place He created us to be in doing what He created us to do.  So that we can enjoy peace.  Shalom.
(Shalom definition by Mark Driscoll, in The Power of Words and the Wonder of God, I don't know where he got it or if he just made it up, just thought it was good.)