Jesus and the Fed

This article is timely. I hear so many stories about people frightened about the future, but for me, my future is the same as it was while we were in financial prosperity. I put my faith in Jesus Christ, that He died on the cross for my sins, and that exchange for taking the punishment I deserve, I will eventually be with him forever in paradise. Nothing on this earth belongs to me, it all belongs to Him. Job 1:21 (CEV) tells us,  ”We bring nothing at birth; we take nothing with us at death. The LORD alone gives and takes. Praise the name of the LORD!”

Last Wednesday, the front page of our local newspaper declared, “In the Fed we Trust…bailout of insurance giant aims to stabilize quaking global economy.”

Some authorities say this global financial crisis was caused by unregulated greed…which other authorities say was necessary to fuel economic expansion.

Yet, in these days of crisis, we might also have a moment of unusual clarity. Some of us may may also find reason to think again about the one who paid far more than 700 billion for our rescue–-after saying,

“Don’t store up treasures (i.e. in which you trust) here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures (i.e in which you trust) in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves.”

“Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be…”

In God’s House

How excited are you to go to church? For some people, it seems like they are watching the clock the minute they get in the door and daydream about where they will go eat lunch afterwards. How awesome, then, is this child’s reaction?

Tobias, who recently turned 3, loves to go to church. He cries when he isn’t able to attend. Each week when he arrives for the children’s program of Bible stories, games, singing, and dinner, he runs into the building and enthusiastically announces to the leaders and other children: “Let’s get this party started!” The Lord must smile at this child’s excitement about being in what he thinks is God’s house.

The author of Psalm 84, one of the sons of Korah, also had a love for God’s house. Some commentators have speculated that for a time he, a temple singer, was unable to go to the temple—either because of sickness or circumstances. So as he wrote this psalm, his soul was especially longing and crying out to be in “the courts of the Lord” (v.2). He believed that one day of worship in God’s house gave more satisfaction than a thousand days spent anywhere else (v.10).

There’s something special about praising God together with His people, and we should take every opportunity we can to do so. But if we can’t, like the psalmist, we can still express our love for the living God and our longing to know Him (v.2). The Lord is pleased and we’ll be blessed when our heart’s desire is to be with Him and His people.