CWW Week 12 - Day 2 - Humility
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Humility
Scripture: Galatians 5:13:
“For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
I am old enough to remember a better time in my country. How I yearn for those times to return. Many say we are much more prosperous now than in any other time in our history, but are we?
If possessions are a measure of prosperity then I guess we are, but I hold true to a belief that the best things in life aren’t things, they’re relationships.
Housing has become unaffordable for many and the houses are getting bigger as our desire for things outstrips our capacity to store them. Our national and personal debt is out of control and we have become slaves to consumerism. Quality has given way to quantity and as such our requirement for landfill to discard our now unwanted and unrepairable throw away items is destroying the environment we need pure to sustain what we need rather than what we want. We are not only bloated on excess but also on entitlement as we strive for personal comfort and an easier life, often at the expense of others, without realising that we have become slaves to the system that promises us what we crave at the expense of our freedom.
A glance back at pictures of our recent past reveal beaches filled with sun loving Australians enjoying life as lean and healthy, hard working individuals mostly content with what life in Australia had to offer. Reward for labour was the norm and the lucky country comprised of many who knew that the harder they worked the luckier they got.
With the advent of the new digital age we have become fat on all the wrong foods, dumb on all the wrong media and lazy on all the government handouts. Our manufacturing capabilities all but given away, our resources squandered to the highest off shore bidder and corruption of institutions now accepted as normal by a people who have laid down to accept the unacceptable.
What used to be “she’ll be right mate,” meaning, don’t worry we will all get through this; has given way to “I’ll be right mate,” meaning as long as I am ok there is nothing to worry about. If you think I am exaggerating take a look at all the public spaces now being occupied by car dwellers and homeless people with all their worlds possessions under fading blue tarpaulins. Look at how many, more fortunate people, turn their faces away as the authorities move the new, second tier society, on to become some other local authorities problem.
How have we succumb to this way of living? Is it really living?
The great line from the hit movie Shawshank Redemption rings true. “We need to get busy living or get busy dying.”
God is progressively being removed from a society that is becoming more self centred by the day as the Godless void is filled with the lust of all things.
We are being challenged to help those less fortunate. Those who are poor in food and shelter; those who are poor in time and under pressure as slaves to the system they themselves bought into; those who are financially well off but poor in spirit. The poor take on many different appearances. Some are sleeping in unroadworthy vehicles while others are backing out expensive cars from the driveways of salubrious mansions. A good suit of clothes does not depict a man wealthy in the Spirit and often disguise a man who is terribly poor. We often condemn those who seem to have more often without knowing what they do in love to support others. These people are doubly blessed in that they are wealthy financially and in the Spirit.
Have we fallen for the trap set by satan to turn our own personal liberty into the enslavement of others? We must remember that the things we consume and throw away in excess has been pushed to us through a supply chain owned by the wealthy, fed by a slave labour force working in dangerous mines and cramped sweat shops all over the less fortunate world.
No we are not prosperous today. We are poor in time and humanity. Our bodies are fat as our conscience, character and spirit starve of healthy nourishment.
Galatians 5:13:
“For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
Yes we have been called to become free. Free from sin that binds us to slavery. But we are clearly using our liberty to gratify the desires of our flesh when it is meant to be used to serve others in selflessness. We are being challenged by this scripture.
Yet another scripture helps us to put all this into an even deeper perspective.
Mark 10:45: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Christ came to show us the way through humility, to live a meaningful life that ensures a well attended funeral.
I have often challenged men to live their life the best way possible so that it will be measured by the attendance at their life celebration. We need to live for a good funeral. People who hold nothing back, who spend a life in service to others and show the essence of love as Christ did, will have a funeral which is a bon voyage party to celebrate the promise fulfilled for their eternal life.
I have dedicated a large part of my time past the speed bump of mid-life, in service of others. Turning the darkness of some of my past into a testimony to help restore others on a similar journey. I am being led to Jesus out of the darkness of my sinful nature. It’s not plain sailing and often I get to within grabbing distance of my goal only to slip back down the slope burdened by the things that I refuse to let go of.
When I stop sliding and reflect on my slip, I realise that it was my selfishness that dragged me back down the hill. The only way to continue the climb is to discard that desire of the flesh and take the hand of Jesus outstretched before me to aid me once more in my climb.
O wretched man that I am. Who will save me?
Questions
- Does liberty to you mean more of a good thing or an opportunity in freedom to serve those less fortunate in all other aspects of life.
- Are the things of life meant to make your earthly life easy, being paid for by the bank of your salvation?
- Can you take a few minutes to re-evaluate what is truly important as you look ahead for today?
Prayer
Dear Lord, Papa God.
Today has challenged me Papa. I am burdened by the miss-alignment of my good fortune. I can see that it is only in your strength that I can let go of this heavy burden and gain the liberty to serve others as Jesus did and continues to do. Help me Father, to embrace new and selfless goals in my life and become a servant to others who may be starving in many aspects of their existence and in so doing enjoy the riches of a life of relationships rather than possessions. Fill me afresh today with your Holy Spirit is my prayer in your most precious name. Amen.
Graham Hood.
