Reflection
Read the following passages of Scripture…
- Matthew 5:1-16
- James 2:1-13
Discussion
We are all born and we all die – and pretty much all in the same position as far as the world goes. We come into the world naked, broke, and dependent on others. Most of the time we will die much the same taking nothing with as we leave this bag of used flesh behind. The time stretched between these points can be used, spent, wasted, or invested in a number of ways.
The time between birth and death we can spend pushing harder and harder toward more and more in this world. That is the drive of the majority of the world. The more we get, the more we want, the more we work to get more. On and on and on this goes until it cannot go any more and we leave this world for eternity.
Each of us will stand before the Creator of this world at the end of this life to make an account of what we did with it. Our goal should be to spend this life in His work and for His glory, not for our own.
Connection
As a kid what was one thing you wanted more than anything else? Did you ever get it?
Looking back, what has been the gift you received that was the most valuable to you?
How would the world look at that gift? Would they see the same value?
What is one thing you want to have or to do so badly that you would give anything else for it?
How has your maturity in Christ over time shown the things they are truly valuable in this world?
Expansion
Creation
The Triune God alone sovereignly created our universe in 6 literal, 24-hour days. Each step of His creative work was complete and perfect with no allowance for the evolution of species or other processes of creation. In His work, God created man and woman as male and female, and gave them specific roles in creation. Following creation, God sat in rule over all things where He remains today as the sole sustainer of His creation.
Genesis 1:1, Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 5:1-2, Genesis 6:7, Genesis 9:6, Nehemiah 9:6, Acts 14:15, Acts 17:24, Isaiah 44:24, Jeremiah 32:17, Hebrews 1:10, Revelation 4:11, John 1:3, Colossians 1:16