Chapter 17 - The Simplicity of the Carefree Life
Bonhoeffer- 'Jesus does not forbid the possession of property in itself. He was man, he ate and drank like his disciples, and thereby sanctified the good things of life. These necessities, which are consumed in use and which meet the legitimate requirements of the body, are to be used by the disciple with thankfulness.
Earthly goods are given to be used, not to be collected.
Hoarding is idolatry.
But where are we to draw the line between legitimate use and unlawful accumulation? Let us reverse the word of Jesus and our question is answered. "Where they heart is, there shall they treasure be also." Our treasure may of course be small and inconspicuous, but its size is immaterial; it all depends on the heart, on ourselves. And if we ask how we are to know where our hearts are, the answer is just as simple-- everything which hinders us from loving God above all things and acts as a barrier between ourselves and our obedience to Jesus is our treasure, and the place where our heart is.'
My thoughts--
I just love this sentence of Bonhoeffers-
"Earthly goods are give to be USED, NOT to be collected."
We are way too caught up in our possessions. We've been taught by our society itself that to be without possessions is an awful, and tragic thing. We even applaud the homeless street person who defends their shopping cart full of their treasure. Truly to go without anything at all is to be called destitute. And it is tragic when people lose all their possessions. The idea of not having possessions is something I find very hard to imagine. We call so many things NECESSARY. And as soon as we call them NECESSARY we are saying they are something we cannot live without.
Bonhoeffer goes on to say that - "Hoarding is idolatry." Do you believe it? It truly is, because when we hoard something we've place it in a position of power in our lives and it take away our worship of CHRIST. It does! The eye is NOT single if we are keeping it on our hoarded treasures.
Bonhoeffer- "EVERYTHING WHICH HINDERS US FROM LOVING GOD ABOVE ALL THINGS AND ACTS AS A BARRIER BETWEEN OURSELVES AND OUR OBEDIENCE TO JESUS IS OUR TREASURE, AND THE PLACE WHERE OUR HEART IS.'
If there is a single thing that keeps us from a full devotion to our Savior we truly are making that thing- no matter how big or how small- our hearts treasure!
We have to be willing to sacrifice ALL for CHRIST!
He has to be THAT important to us!
He CANNOT be an after thought in our lives!
We should do NOTHING without consulting Him first!
Yes, I said that, and meant that. We should consult our Father in Heaven through Jesus Christ our Savior in ALL we do!
When we wake in the morning we need to dedicate our entire day to Christ. We need to lay ALL our plans at the feet of our SAVIOR. We have to ask HIM to guide us in the way EVERLASTING, even if that way means that all the plans we've made for our day are thrown out the window in favor of something our God has planned for us.
Telling God that everything we plan to do is subject to HIS approval and meaning it, is truly having our GREATEST TREASURE IN HEAVEN- OUR SAVIOR, OUR KING, OUR CREATOR! HE IS OUR TREASURE, the ONLY TREASURE WE REALLY, REALLY NEED!
By HIS grace may we have HIM as our ONLY TREASURE here through the SPIRIT, and in HEAVEN where HE MINISTERS for US!
Let NOTHING come between us and YOU, my LORD JESUS!
Bonhoeffer- 'Jesus does not forbid the possession of property in itself. He was man, he ate and drank like his disciples, and thereby sanctified the good things of life. These necessities, which are consumed in use and which meet the legitimate requirements of the body, are to be used by the disciple with thankfulness.
Earthly goods are given to be used, not to be collected.
Hoarding is idolatry.
But where are we to draw the line between legitimate use and unlawful accumulation? Let us reverse the word of Jesus and our question is answered. "Where they heart is, there shall they treasure be also." Our treasure may of course be small and inconspicuous, but its size is immaterial; it all depends on the heart, on ourselves. And if we ask how we are to know where our hearts are, the answer is just as simple-- everything which hinders us from loving God above all things and acts as a barrier between ourselves and our obedience to Jesus is our treasure, and the place where our heart is.'
My thoughts--
I just love this sentence of Bonhoeffers-
"Earthly goods are give to be USED, NOT to be collected."
We are way too caught up in our possessions. We've been taught by our society itself that to be without possessions is an awful, and tragic thing. We even applaud the homeless street person who defends their shopping cart full of their treasure. Truly to go without anything at all is to be called destitute. And it is tragic when people lose all their possessions. The idea of not having possessions is something I find very hard to imagine. We call so many things NECESSARY. And as soon as we call them NECESSARY we are saying they are something we cannot live without.
Bonhoeffer goes on to say that - "Hoarding is idolatry." Do you believe it? It truly is, because when we hoard something we've place it in a position of power in our lives and it take away our worship of CHRIST. It does! The eye is NOT single if we are keeping it on our hoarded treasures.
Bonhoeffer- "EVERYTHING WHICH HINDERS US FROM LOVING GOD ABOVE ALL THINGS AND ACTS AS A BARRIER BETWEEN OURSELVES AND OUR OBEDIENCE TO JESUS IS OUR TREASURE, AND THE PLACE WHERE OUR HEART IS.'
If there is a single thing that keeps us from a full devotion to our Savior we truly are making that thing- no matter how big or how small- our hearts treasure!
We have to be willing to sacrifice ALL for CHRIST!
He has to be THAT important to us!
He CANNOT be an after thought in our lives!
We should do NOTHING without consulting Him first!
Yes, I said that, and meant that. We should consult our Father in Heaven through Jesus Christ our Savior in ALL we do!
When we wake in the morning we need to dedicate our entire day to Christ. We need to lay ALL our plans at the feet of our SAVIOR. We have to ask HIM to guide us in the way EVERLASTING, even if that way means that all the plans we've made for our day are thrown out the window in favor of something our God has planned for us.
Telling God that everything we plan to do is subject to HIS approval and meaning it, is truly having our GREATEST TREASURE IN HEAVEN- OUR SAVIOR, OUR KING, OUR CREATOR! HE IS OUR TREASURE, the ONLY TREASURE WE REALLY, REALLY NEED!
By HIS grace may we have HIM as our ONLY TREASURE here through the SPIRIT, and in HEAVEN where HE MINISTERS for US!
Let NOTHING come between us and YOU, my LORD JESUS!
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