A Plain Country Homestead

Luk 6:30

Our stuff often owns us. We can even get more attached to our stuff
than to the people in our lives. When our things are taken from us, we
can be more concerned about the things than we are about the heart of
the person who took those things. God wants us to be generous with
others, just as he is generous with us. God poured out his grace so
lavishly. Do some people abuse that grace? Absolutely! Is God sorry he
offered us his grace? Absolutely not! Some people will abuse us
financially or take advantage of us in a "deal." Rather than destroying
the reputation of the church and bringing ruin on ourselves through
bitterness, we need to forgive and let go of what anchors us to the
world.

A good devotional thought this morning.  We have had problems over the years with things being taken and not returned, we have loaned out countless tools, books, etc. to never see them again.  Some things, we have missed, other things really aren't important to us. 

But this...according to God's Word, I shouldn't feel much importance to an of it.  I once had a Bible stolen from my car, at church, no less.  It really upset me at first.  My flesh missed that Bible.  I had taken so many notes in their pages, I had so many connections to that Bible, it upset me that someone would steal it.  But it wasn't long when The Lord started asking me why I was upset?  Was my relationship, my knowledge of Him based only on the notes I had in a book?  Was not my prayer time, my fellowshipping, my lifestyle not enough of a 'connection' to Him?  Worse yet, could I not remember His Word enough that a missing Bible would upset me so?

Ouch.  I immediately started feeling differently.  I was shamed that I would place such importance on His Book....not that I don't cherish His Book and His Words greatly....but His Book is not the only connection I have to Him.  I began to wonder about who might have gotten into my car and stolen it.  Nothing else was missing, just the Bible. Had God perhaps allowed it happen so this person could be drawn to Him eventually?  Obviously, this person, whoever they were, needed that Bible far more than I did.  To steal it, they must not have had a deep relationship with Him, and I pray that by having His Word, even stolen, they will come to that place of deeper knowledge and open their hearts more fully to Him.