Good morning Sunshine

This morning is different from most recent mornings - it's wet outside. While parts of the country have been dealing with floods, there are drought conditions in much of the South. At my house it started last evening with a few very large drops. You could almost hear a loud "Splat!" with each drop, and you could almost hear the space between the drops. I am very thankful for the rain, our crepe myrtles were looking droopy and smaller plants were getting stressed. We have water restrictions. The city of Charlotte asked all residents to conserve water, then said that since folks were using less water there was not enough revenue and promptly raised water rates. (Since this isn't a rant n rave blog I'll leave that topic to someone else but must say there is some good material there for that sort of thing. Thank God the government is not involved in the distribution of oxygen!)

So I suppose this morning somehow my mind is on the distribution of things - how water and air and other resources are distributed. If you were in charge of distributing resources, how would you do it? Human nature being what it is, I see no chance of a system that would make everyone happy. Man has tried numerous systems to distribute or redistribute resources. Our country espouses the free market system, with the role of government (as I understand it) being chiefly to see that participants are provided an equal footing and fair chance to participate, and to provide some sort of safety net to keep things from getting too crazy in the process.

I'm painting with a very broad brush here, but am only halfway through my first cup of coffee so bear with me.

In other systems the government has a much more active role - not only setting the rules which participants must observe (then enforcing the rules) but governing to a certain extent the results. At one end of that spectrum is Communism, where (as I understand it) the government's role is to actually own the resources and give or take away whatever amount is deemed necessary to make sure each participant ends up with a more or less equal share of resources. Or perhaps more accurately, whatever share of resources the government determines each person or group should have. Kind of a paternal model where the government takes care of you. At the other end of that spectrum are governments like Saddam Hussein, who establish the rules and enforce the rules (like both democracy and Communism), determine the results (like Communism), but in addition the government itself is the primary beneficiary of the results, with the poeple simply the means of supporting and elevating the government.

I have never thoroughly studied government or political theory and am sure I have oversimplified and missed some very important points. Just wait, it gets worse. Say a little boy has a shiny rock and his friend has a turtle. Under Communism, the government owns both the rock and the turtle and will give ,or withhold, all these resources as best serves the group or state. Under democracy, the government makes sure that neither boy steals from the other and allows the boy to enjoy his shiny rock, or to trade it for the turtle, or to partner together to share his rock and play with the turtle too. Under the warlord type governments, the government takes from both boys, trades the shiny rock for guns to maintain power and eats turtle soup.

Of all the governments of man, democracy seems better able to provide incentives for both individuals and the entire people to experience peace and productivity.

But there is another type of government. Its focus is not on the resources at all, it's focus is on the people, or rather the person. Jesus introduced a new kind of governement, a government of the heart. He taught (as I understand it) that each person should participate respectfully in whatever form of human government he found himself in, but ultimately should be ruled by love. To share your food with him who is hungry, to share your coat with him who is cold. Not some government taking your food away to give to someone else, not some government letting you off scott-free for ignoring the starving. A government that demands the most and enforces the least, allowing each individual to choose their own results by choosing their actions and attitudes.

No wonder Jesus told so many stories and parables about what the Kingdom of God is like, I would never understand something so simple otherwise. His government is understood and followed not so much with the head as with the heart. I am learning to be governed by You.

The Secret of Abundance (aka, use it or lose it)

"How do I get abundance?" That seems to be a question we would all like the answer to. To have abundance is to have all your needs met and then some. Some would use abundance selfishly, some unselfishly. That fact in and of itself does not render abundance either good or bad. People can choose to be either generous or selfish whether their state is abundance or lack. Jesus said it is better to give than to receive. In my experience, having the ability to givd is better than being in the place of needing help. Also in my experience, giving results in joy while receiving results in happiness. There is a difference.

In Matthew 25, Jesus' shared the secret of abundance. It is amazing to me when I see things like this in the Word of God, why these must be secrets I'm still not sure, since they are written down and freely available to everyone.

Ready? Here is how to get abundance (according to Jesus): first you have, then you get more. The secret of abundance is to get more. Profound, I know. But the hard part seems to be getting some in the first place, right? Like the old joke about making a million dollars in the stock market? Start off with 2 million.

In Matt. 25:29, Jesus said "Everyone who has will be given more, and he will have abundance." While recently reading these words again, the word everyone seemed to jump off the page at me. EVERYONE. If you have, you will be given more. No exceptions noted - everyone.

Going on, everyone who does NOT have, even what he has will be taken away. (Question: How can they take away what you do not have? Answer: they cannot).

It is not so much a matter of what we have- inheritance from our family, talent we were born with, our last name, etc. And it is not so much a matter of the reasons why we cannot - lack of inheritance from our family, others being more talented, our last name, etc. What matters is what we have, and our attitude to what we have, and what we decide to do with it.

We've all heard the saying "Use it or lose it." According to Jesus, it's true after all. Everyone who has will be given more, and she will have an abundance. And to those who do not have (or choose not to use what they have) it will be taken away. I'm going to use my prayer language, and my body, and my money, and my confession, and my will, and my place of authority in my family and my workplace, and this little blog, to lift Jesus up and seek His will and His Kingdom. I want to hear Him say "Well done. Come and enter into the joy of your master." Don't know a better definition of abundance than that.