Sprituality for Busy People
Weekly Message

Paul Sweet's SPIRITUALITY FOR BUSY PEOPLE

Week of May 19-May 25, 2008.

Here's an idea on how to take God with you into your busy life. Absorb a simple phrase into your soul as you live your daily life. Ponder it. Memorize it. Let it help guide you through the activities of your day. Make it a mantra of thought. In addition, read the scripture and commit the most important verse to memory.

Memory Phrase: I AM NOT IN CHARGE; THE REAL STUFF IS UP TO GOD.

Key Thought: The quality of life depends on Who or What controls us.

Scripture for May 25, 2008. Matthew 6:24-34. Jesus' teaching on money and worry.

Further Thoughts:
Money, and worry (fear)-two of the major themes of the 21st century. A twentieth century writer, Dr. Scott Peck, M.D., says "All adults who are mentally healthy submit themselves one way or another to something higher than themselves, be it God or truth or love or some other ideal." (People of the Lie, P. 78). The human issue around money is whether or not it controls one's life, and the issues we worry about show us who our gods-those forces we submit to-really are. So today's spiritual issue is about who or what controls us.

In the Christian context, money must be seen within a world in which everything belongs to God. A friend of mine last week reminded me that his weight issue is really a theological issue, since his body belongs to God. And, as he put it, so does his money; he was worried about how he could use his resources for the sick of his community. And, as we have seen in Jesus, people are always more important than things.

When it comes to worry, the same principles apply. We worry less when we realize that all we worry about belongs to God, and that the people we care about are the most important concerns of God. As a member of the first church I served once said, "Paul, you must remember that worry is the least productive of all human emotions." I'm sure she said that in the spiritual context of God's concern for us, which makes worry needless, useless, and even actively injurious. "Look at the birds of the air. They don't plant or harvest, ….Yet your Father in heaven takes care of them!" (Verse 26) Oh, if I could only practice what I preach! (There's my spiritual challenge for the week!)
Paul Sweet, Pastor
revsweet@aol.com