Summertime Is Sweating Time, Even While Doing Nothing
In his latest call, Ed, my old neighbor from Saskatchewan, informed me that a day of thunderstorms was a welcome relief from their hot weather. He told me he was tired of sweating even when he was doing nothing. It had been so hot it was hard to sleep.
I asked Ed why he had not put his central air on at night so he could sleep in coolness. My old neighbor did have his central air on, but he had a restless sleep concerned that the coolness was costing money on his power bill. Ed also gets concerned about the gas bill in the winter to stay warm. My old neighbor can fixate on what anything is costing him.
If Ed were in control of the municipality, city, province, and country, there would be in a better financial, state of affairs, at least in his opinion. Some folks won’t mention how wise, shrewd, informed, prudent and full of common sense they are and always have been. My old neighbor will own up to all those qualities, but cannot believe others aren’t wise enough to see him as exceptional and extraordinary, a cut above all the rest.
I have found that most of us are like Ed, given to self-absorption and concerned with what we have and what it costs. Yes, some folks do not care about possessions, or how wisely they take care of their money and stuff. Many do focus on making sure they not only have enough for today but more than sufficient, so they have security for tomorrow.
Stored up money and assets cannot guarantee your future. Too many of us live for ourselves, talk to ourselves about what we have, or do not have, plan for not only today, but for the end of the month, and year. We act as if we can manage our lives, and guarantee our futures. Our focus does not include God. Many forget their lives are a gift from God. They do not see that their life is on loan from God. Tomorrow is not promised to anyone.
Many forget they were born naked, and they will go to their grave empty-handed. We tend to live as if life is in our hands, not God’s. No matter how many possessions we have, how much money we have invested and stored up: all of it can be lost in the split second of death. We live as if only others suffer heart attacks, brain aneurysms, or get cancer, and die in car crashes.
Everything we have worked for and stored up must go to those who come after us. There is no guarantee the one who gets all we have accumulated will be wise. We may have lived and worked with wisdom, knowledge, skill, and sacrifice, but it will be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it.
Jesus warned that one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. As Christians, we seek to live in the faith of our God. All we have is from God, not just our own doing. God calls us to share with others in need when we have more than sufficient. He wants everyone to have enough. Do we?
