Today’s Readings: Psalm 105; Exodus 16:2-15; Matthew 20:1-16; Philippians 1:21-30
If I’ve learned one thing over the course of my first 41 years, I’ve learned that human beings (including myself!) are fickle creatures. Let me give you a couple examples of what I mean. Those who are single might find ourselves lonely and hoping and praying that we meet Mr./Ms. Right. Time passes and we meet that special someone and settle down. Then what happens? We find ourselves resenting the constraints put upon our previously footloose and fancy free lifestyle and wish we were single again. Or we learn there is a possibility for a promotion at work for a cushy new position that pays twice what we currently earn. We put in our application and hope and pray that we get the new position. Time passes and we get the promotion. Then what happens? We find ourselves feeling overworked and underpaid and wish that we had never gotten the promotion in the first place. I could give you literally dozens of examples of our fickleness, but I think you get the point. Of course we aren’t the first human beings to be fickle. The Israelites in today’s passage from Exodus were pretty fickle human beings as well – for they spent much of their time when they were in bondage in Egypt hoping and praying for their freedom. Time passed and they got their freedom. Then what happened? They started complaining about their quality of life in their newfound freedom. Our fickleness sure can get exhausting to even think about. Thank goodness God is patient with us!! The story of the Israelites’ complaining got me to thinking about how difficult it is for us human beings to stop and truly appreciate what we have at any given moment. Are minds are always churning and thinking about not what we currently have - but what might have at some point in the future. Today, I would invite you to join me in taking a moment to stop and give thanks for the life that we have today. If we learn to live in a spirit of thanksgiving for where we are and what we have at this moment, we might grow in our ability to do one of the most difficult challenges known to humanity: recognize the many blessings that have already been showered upon us. Til next time…
If I’ve learned one thing over the course of my first 41 years, I’ve learned that human beings (including myself!) are fickle creatures. Let me give you a couple examples of what I mean. Those who are single might find ourselves lonely and hoping and praying that we meet Mr./Ms. Right. Time passes and we meet that special someone and settle down. Then what happens? We find ourselves resenting the constraints put upon our previously footloose and fancy free lifestyle and wish we were single again. Or we learn there is a possibility for a promotion at work for a cushy new position that pays twice what we currently earn. We put in our application and hope and pray that we get the new position. Time passes and we get the promotion. Then what happens? We find ourselves feeling overworked and underpaid and wish that we had never gotten the promotion in the first place. I could give you literally dozens of examples of our fickleness, but I think you get the point. Of course we aren’t the first human beings to be fickle. The Israelites in today’s passage from Exodus were pretty fickle human beings as well – for they spent much of their time when they were in bondage in Egypt hoping and praying for their freedom. Time passed and they got their freedom. Then what happened? They started complaining about their quality of life in their newfound freedom. Our fickleness sure can get exhausting to even think about. Thank goodness God is patient with us!! The story of the Israelites’ complaining got me to thinking about how difficult it is for us human beings to stop and truly appreciate what we have at any given moment. Are minds are always churning and thinking about not what we currently have - but what might have at some point in the future. Today, I would invite you to join me in taking a moment to stop and give thanks for the life that we have today. If we learn to live in a spirit of thanksgiving for where we are and what we have at this moment, we might grow in our ability to do one of the most difficult challenges known to humanity: recognize the many blessings that have already been showered upon us. Til next time…
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