Thoughts on Worldly Junk

Here are some scriptures as well as some of my thoughts on those scriptures. It’s my hope that those who follow along will gain a better understanding and Lord willing help someone out there someday.

Luke 16:8-14

8"The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

In verse 9, upon first reading, it may seem a little strange. I believe Jesus is saying don’t be stingy but use your money to help others. If someone can’t feed, clothe, or shelter themselves, and you sit idling by with a fistful of cash, surrounding yourself with things that will just pass away, you’re probably not gonna have a lot of friends. Instead of building up a house of vanity, you could have used that money to help people in their time of need. If you were to use your money to help others, and in turn, spread the Good News about Jesus Christ, and some were saved, than you’d be investing in heaven, which is everlasting. Your immaculate car with all the features won’t meet you in heaven, but the person you feed, clothe, or shelter, will. Don’t get me wrong. Nice things are good; however, when those things become your life, that’s no good.

10"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own? 13"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." 14The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight.

I have another thought to share with you. Have you ever wondered about what is popular, like movies and TV shows, especially sci-fi shows? We spend millions and millions of dollars on these things that don’t even exist. A lot of these things we watch, there is nothing meaningful, or nothing to learn from. As long as there are still people starving, how can anyone justify spending a dime on these things? I’m not here to tell you what you can or cannot watch. I used to watch the same things. I am only saying, this world would be a different place if we focused on reality and not ways to escape it. Since I’ve been avoiding these types of shows, my life has been filled with a lot less anxiety. I’m no longer trying to keep up with a billion different shows, or fretting over each episode I may or may not miss, which means no more explosive anger if I miss something. Okay, that’s enough from me. Happy reading.

Matthew 6:19-21

Treasures in Heaven
19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

2 Corinthians 5:11-21

The Ministry of Reconciliation
11Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.