By the Waters of Babylon – Ps 137:1
A comment made at Bible Study last Monday reminded me both of a line from Matthew’s gospel, and then a story I heard many years ago. The comment was (loosely quoted), “How you spend your money shows what is important to you.” And the line from Matthew: Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth.”
A missionary family in China had been under house arrest, having lived a rather comfortable life for years. One day, a soldier came and said, “You can all return to America. But you may only take two hundred pounds (weight, not money!) with you. No more, no less!
The family had been in China for some years, so two hundred pounds sounded almost impossible. They got the scales out and the family arguments started. Each member of the family suggested items to take, displaying each one’s priorities. “Must take this vase,” … “must have the typewriter, it is almost new!” … “must take these books,” and so on it went. They weighed, they added, they subtracted. Finally, they arrived at 200 pounds on the dot, and they called the soldier back.
The soldier asked, “Ready to go? They said yes, then the soldier asked, “Did you weigh your kids? They said no, so they were ordered to weigh the kids. So, off came typewriter, off went the books, off went the vase – all into the trash.
The things that clutter our lives and separate us – into the trash! Weigh the priorities! The time has come to decide to put things into perspective. When we find that perspective, that is when we open the door of the present to Jesus.
