Dennis Crawford’s poem, “The Upside Down 23rd” reminds me of how often we turn God’s word into a topsy-turvy mess to suit our own purposes. We take the parts we like and ignore the ones we don’t care for.
Tithing? Surely that is only for Old Testament times, we insist…because we don’t trust God enough to let him provide for us.
Malachi 3:8-10- “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings (says God).”
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
Or we fudge on little things, like getting our pens, paper clips and stamps from our workplace instead of at the local office supply.
Matthew 19:18b- Jesus replied, “‘you shall not steal.” (NIV)
We buy another fancy North American toy while our sisters and brothers starve in a third world country.
Matthew 6:19– “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal (NIV).
Or as Dennis Crawford says, we walk in places we should not go.
1 John 2:11–But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them (NIV).
What does your list of Upside Downs look like? Maybe it needs a touch from the Word.
Hebrews 4:12-For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (NIV).
Prayer: Lord, help our hearts, minds, attitudes and behaviors follow you anywhere you want to take us. Amen.
Be First to Comment