Discover

Yorkminster Park Speaks - Week 4.5

Monday | Ready to Run
Submitted by: Veronica Bergs

"What matters most to me is to finish what God started: the job the Master Jesus gave me of letting everyone I meet know all about this incredibly extravagant generosity of God."
- Acts 20:24, The Message

An influential business book, Stephen Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, counsels readers to "begin with the end in mind", considering the legacy they want to leave at the end of their lives and to "put first things first" - effectively managing themselves and their time. At a recent conference, speaker Kathy Butryn re-cast this advice from a scriptural perspective3 , stressing the need to "put first things first." In Acts 20, we see that Paul is very clear about both his life's priority and building a lasting legacy. Paul's Creator had given him a cause to live for so profoundly satisfying that it was more valuable to him than life itself. Because he put God first and foremost, he was able to face hardships and danger without fear. Acts 20:24 is a testimony of a life that has enormous significance4.

Other translations of this verse incorporate athletic imagery - the NIV reads: "... finish the race and complete the task ." The contest that Paul sees as a metaphor for life is a marathon, not a sprint. In The Life You've Always Wanted, John Ortberg notes that running a marathon involves not only starting well, but also finishing well. After the initial pleasurable rush, running becomes drudgery. After drudgery, it becomes effortful and laborious, eventually reaching the point where the temptation to quit is overwhelming. Runners
describe this as "hitting the wall." Finishing is hard work; finishing well takes endurance and perseverance. It is liberating to remember that following Jesus and carrying out the ministry he has given each and every one of us is not a matter of trying harder in our own strength, but of training wisely5. Following Jesus means learning from him how to arrange our lives around activities that enable us to live in the fruit of the Spirit. Disciplined people can do the right thing at the right time in the right way for the right reason.

Our Sunday School curriculum, 252 Basics, provides valuable insight to the adult leaders as we prepare to teach kids at the elementary level. One of the past year's key messages is that God gives generously to us so we will have time, emotional energy, patience, and resources to give to others. When others see us being generous, in turn they will be thankful to God. By following Paul's example, and making ourselves available for God to work through us, we provide an opening for Him to display His incredibly extravagant generosity.

Questions to Ponder:
What is the purpose or cause that God wants me to live for?
What things or activities of temporary value may be holding me back, robbing me of the time and energy needed for serving him and finishing well?

Final Prayer Thought:
Dear Lord, Help me to run with endurance the race that you have set before me, stripping off every weight that slows me down, especially the sin that so easily trips me up. Keep me from getting sidetracked by pleasant detours or from dropping out when I become tired or frustrated or face pain or hardship. May my eyes be focused on Jesus, our champion and may I be disciplined in my faith, living it out by serving you and others. Amen.

Your Questions or Comments?

Back to top

Tuesday | From Whom All Blessings Flow
Submitted by Stuart Campbell

"Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage-to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life. Amen."
- 1 Timothy 6:17-19 , The Message (MSG)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Reflect on the implications of this truth giving thanks to the God we serve. Come before our Lord today with an open mind and open hands eager for God's teaching.

Paul, friend and mentor to Timothy, is writing to this young protégé and church builder, encouraging Timothy and prompting him to instruct his congregation with words as true today as they were at the time of Paul's writing. Today's passage is helpful, direct instruction on ways we, who are rich in material wealth, are to manage our riches and give generously in service to God. In a helpful way to Timothy and to us, Paul has written a succinct three point outline:

Stop being so arrogant and obsessed with money. Everything we own is God's. He is just allowing us to be responsible stewards of what he has entrusted to us. Our challenge is to hold our finances with a looser hand and give graciously. When we are obedient with what God gives us, He will trust us with more.

Give extravagantly, trusting God and helping others by doing so. When we give generously to the Lord without expectation, we are acting out the blessing we have already been given! Our blessing is our ability to trust God. Our giving is an expression of that trust. And, giving to others is so much fun.

Build up a different treasury, one built on helping others, that is eternally lasting. Honour God with a generous portion of the riches he has given you and you will be building a treasury that will last forever. The widow, of whom the Gospel writers have written, who gave two copper coins, knew that the treasures of this earth are nothing compared to the glory that is to follow. Like she did, put your trust in Him, which is certain and not in riches which are uncertain. The recent global financial upheaval has brought home the uncertainty of any earthly treasure; God's economy on the other hand, is enduring and everlasting!

Watch and feel God at work as you grow in the grace of giving. Small careful steps will turn into grand, bold steps; timid calculated giving will mushroom into extravagant giving, giving that will leap over any barriers you may have chosen to erect and your life will rise up.

Questions to Ponder:
What we do with our wealth demonstrates in a tangible way how well we trust, love and honour God. Does our giving reflect this blessing?

Malachi writes that we should give the first of portion of our income to God. Does our annual family budget have "Giving to God" as the first line item? Or is it well down the list just above the line "What's left over"?

The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped. (Pr 11: 24,25). Ponder this wisdom and spend time praising God for all He is in himself and for his extravagant blessings to you.

Your Questions or Comments?

Back to top