Verse of the week -- Matthew 13:44
God continues to lead me on a journey of discovering joy, what it is, what it should look like in my life. As I meditate through the hundreds of verses that talk about joy I have found another gem that challenged me anew to keep my priorities and perspectives grounded in His Word.
As Christians we must give up a great deal from the world's perspective. Like Moses, we must choose to be mistreated along with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time (see Hebrews 11). Yet, do I hesitate to give up everything? Do I hold something back?
. . . a time frame,
. . . a habit,
. . . a comfort,
. . . a possession,
. . . an 'indulgence,'
. . . a deserved reward,
. . . a goal,
. . . a desire?
One of these verses about joy gave me a new perspective on the choices that I make, both long term and day to day. In Matthew 13:44 it says, "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." Did this man have any hesitancy in selling all he had to buy that field? No, because he knew it held unspeakable treasure.
That needs to be my outlook on this life. I know that at the end of this life I will inherit a field with unspeakable treasure, and the joy of that promise should drive me to give up anything necessary to serve God without hesitation. His joy should overshadow anything else I may need to 'give up' to follow Him.
This joy needs to permeate my life and control my decisions as mom, wife, follower of Christ, teacher, housekeeper, and neighbor. I read an encouraging blog post in this regard yesterday. It is exciting as I see God working at something in my life to read about God at work in others' lives in the very same area and enjoy further thoughts on growing this quality in my life.
What should joy motivate me to change this week? What should we willingly remove from our lives because of that eternal promise of joy?
~Matthew 13:44~
As Christians we must give up a great deal from the world's perspective. Like Moses, we must choose to be mistreated along with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time (see Hebrews 11). Yet, do I hesitate to give up everything? Do I hold something back?
. . . a time frame,
. . . a habit,
. . . a comfort,
. . . a possession,
. . . an 'indulgence,'
. . . a deserved reward,
. . . a goal,
. . . a desire?
One of these verses about joy gave me a new perspective on the choices that I make, both long term and day to day. In Matthew 13:44 it says, "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." Did this man have any hesitancy in selling all he had to buy that field? No, because he knew it held unspeakable treasure.
That needs to be my outlook on this life. I know that at the end of this life I will inherit a field with unspeakable treasure, and the joy of that promise should drive me to give up anything necessary to serve God without hesitation. His joy should overshadow anything else I may need to 'give up' to follow Him.
This joy needs to permeate my life and control my decisions as mom, wife, follower of Christ, teacher, housekeeper, and neighbor. I read an encouraging blog post in this regard yesterday. It is exciting as I see God working at something in my life to read about God at work in others' lives in the very same area and enjoy further thoughts on growing this quality in my life.
What should joy motivate me to change this week? What should we willingly remove from our lives because of that eternal promise of joy?
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
~Matthew 13:44~
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