Today’s Daily Bread ~ The Big Spin

Matthew 6: 19-20 – “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal.  Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never be moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves.

Mike and I took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese a few weeks ago.  If you asked my children to choose between a Caribbean cruise and Chuck E. Cheese, they’d choose the latter.

They took a strange fascination with an interesting game I’d never noticed before.  It was a giant wheel with a lever and a big red button.  You pulled the lever to spin the wheel, and then pressed the button when you wanted it to stop.  Then you would get the corresponding number of tickets.  Pull, spin, push.  Pull, spin, push.  That’s all my son wanted to do almost the entire time we were there.

Mike and I actually enjoy Chuck’s house.  We both love ski-ball, and I’m not too shabby at the basketball game.  So many different things to choose from!  Where is the fun in “pull, spin, push?”

At the end of the evening we took the kids over to the store so they could cash in their tickets.  For all his efforts, Nick had enough to buy four pieces of candy, which were gone in roughly four minutes.  Was it worth it to him?  Absolutely.  Did he have a ball?  You know it.  Did God speak to me through the experience?  Yes.

Habakkuk 2:12-14 – “How terrible it will be for you who build cities with money gained by murder and corruption!  Has not the LORD Almighty promised that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes?  They work so hard, but all in vain!  For the time will come when all the earth will be filled, as the waters fill the sea, with an awareness of the glory of the LORD.”

I can scarcely bear to watch the news coverage of Japan anymore, yet I can’t seem to turn it off.  The earthquake moved the country 8 feet.  It moved an underwater landmass at the epicenter 17 feet, dropping it by four.  The axis of the earth was tilted an additional 23 centimeters, and our day was shortened by roughly a millisecond.  As of this morning, the death toll stands at 9,079, with 12,645 still missing.  The World Bank issued a report today estimating the damage at over $235 billion dollars.  Authorities guess rebuilding will take at least five years.  God exhales, and the earth moves.

Isaiah 40:22 – It is God who sits above the circle of the earth.  The people below must seem to Him like grasshoppers.  He is the One who spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes His tent from them.

How must we look to God, as we race around, scurrying to add treasures to our storehouses on earth?  More money.  Better cars.  Bigger houses.  Newer phones.  Brand name jeans.  I’m guilty of all those things.  I wonder if we don’t look like my son at Chuck E. Cheese.  Pull, spin, push.  Race to the counter to buy junk that give pleasure for only a few minutes.  None of those things are bad in and of themselves.  But how full are our storehouses in heaven?  Do we give out of our abundance or do we faithfully give our first fruits?  Do we volunteer when it’s convenient for us, or do we sacrifice?  Do we serve for recognition, or to follow the example of Jesus?

Something in my spirit tells me there is a sense of urgency.  I can feel the Holy Spirit echoing the words of Paul in his letter to the church at Ephesus.  Follow God’s example in everything you do.  Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ (Ephesians 5:5).  Figures state that 84-96% of Japanese practice Buddhism (and a blend of Buddhism with other religions), but those figures are based on birth records, not self-proclamation.  Other research indicates that 70% of Japanese profess no religious membership, and 84% claim no personal religion.  However, Japanese streets are decorated on Tanabata, Obon, and Christmas.

How full are our storehouses in Heaven?  How well do we witness?  There are so many that don’t know Christ.  Oh, that they would see Him in us.

Dear Heavenly Father, today we lift up those struck by the earthquake, Tsunami, and nuclear crisis.  We ask that through these disasters, Your Name would be glorified.  We pray that many would call on You and be saved.  We pray that healing and restoration would come swiftly.  Lord, fill us with a new spirit of urgency and boldness.  Help us to follow the example of Jesus in everything we do.  Help us to live lives filled with love for others.  Show us areas in our lives that need to be surrendered to You, and help us to do it.  Lord, the world teaches us to hoard, and that happiness is found in things.  Free us from that, so we may joyfully place our time, talents and finances in Your Holy Hands.  We can never out-give You, God.  Pull us close to You today, let us feel Your Presence surrounding us.  We ask these things in the beautiful name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.