I remember the story of the rich young ruler in the Bible. He asked Jesus what he had to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus listed the 10 commandments for him. The young man stated that he'd kept these from his youth. Jesus told him to sell all he owned, give it to the poor and follow Him. The ruler went away sad because he had great possessions he was not willing to give up.
In praying about this experiment, I asked God, Is this what you are requiring of me? Am I to sell all I have, give it to the poor and follow You? He responded by saying that I am neither rich nor young and I am not a ruler. I must admit I've never been so thankful to be a poor old peasant! The Lord proceeded to outline the parameters of this experiment for me.
"I want you to trim the excess", He told me. He showed me 5 areas of my life and told me that in each one, He wanted to show me what was need and what was greed. I am to incrementally trim the excess in each area until I have only what I absolutely need. The excess is to go to those who don't have enough.
The five areas in need of a trim are: My Finances; My Possessions; My Food; My Leisure Time; and My God Time.
Here's what He said I need:
Finances: My paycheck must be used to pay rent, utilities, and obligations including my ministry needs; buy gas and reasonable groceries (see Food). I am to have no more than $60 in the bank and no savings account, no credit cards and no money put aside if the car breaks down. God Himself will meet those needs when they arise. The excess is to go to those in need at His direction.
Possessions: Most people would think I already live a pretty simple life. I don't own a smart phone, have cable or satellite or buy internet service, but the Lord showed me just how much extra I have. I have summer, fall, winter and spring clothes - a closet full of each. Much more than one person needs. Shoes, jewelry, makeup, superfluous decor and trinkets, all in need of a trim.
Leisure Time: Defined as any time I am not at work. The Lord showed me there are things I need to add here and things I need to take away. I need to add time to exercise, more quality time with family, more time volunteering and in humanitarian efforts. I need to spend less time watching TV, playing on the computer, reading things that don't benefit. I need to submit leisure time to the Lord and let Him lead and direct.
God Time: Defined as time spent in prayer, in the Word and in worship. Not to be confined to Sundays and Wednesdays only. I need to spend more time in the Word and more time in intercessory prayer. I am active in many areas of ministry: Letters to My Beloved Ones, teaching 5th grade Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings, teaching women's Bible studies twice a year, being part of the church's prayer team, etc. But God showed me He wants ministry to be something I am, not just something I do. My God time needs to be increasing to non-ceasing, so that while I am working or doing leisure time activities I am still in communion with Him and am ministering to others. All my time needs to become God time.
Food: The goal is three healthy balanced meals a day, water or milk only to drink, and no snacking. Sounds severe, but I think of those who truly don't have enough food to eat and how thankful they'd be for three solid, nutritious meals a day. I don't need snacks. That's just a lust of my flesh. My body will be much healthier if I stick to these guidelines. Now I know all you nurses out there are going to tell me about healthy snacks and 6 small meals a day so I won't get hungry and binge. But this is the plan the Lord laid out for me. So it must be what I need. Honestly, this will probably be the most difficult area for me to trim.
So now I have the plan. Time to start defining the need and eliminating the greed. I don't expect it to be easy. Please pray for me. I'll keep you posted....
In praying about this experiment, I asked God, Is this what you are requiring of me? Am I to sell all I have, give it to the poor and follow You? He responded by saying that I am neither rich nor young and I am not a ruler. I must admit I've never been so thankful to be a poor old peasant! The Lord proceeded to outline the parameters of this experiment for me.
"I want you to trim the excess", He told me. He showed me 5 areas of my life and told me that in each one, He wanted to show me what was need and what was greed. I am to incrementally trim the excess in each area until I have only what I absolutely need. The excess is to go to those who don't have enough.
The five areas in need of a trim are: My Finances; My Possessions; My Food; My Leisure Time; and My God Time.
Here's what He said I need:
Finances: My paycheck must be used to pay rent, utilities, and obligations including my ministry needs; buy gas and reasonable groceries (see Food). I am to have no more than $60 in the bank and no savings account, no credit cards and no money put aside if the car breaks down. God Himself will meet those needs when they arise. The excess is to go to those in need at His direction.
Possessions: Most people would think I already live a pretty simple life. I don't own a smart phone, have cable or satellite or buy internet service, but the Lord showed me just how much extra I have. I have summer, fall, winter and spring clothes - a closet full of each. Much more than one person needs. Shoes, jewelry, makeup, superfluous decor and trinkets, all in need of a trim.
Leisure Time: Defined as any time I am not at work. The Lord showed me there are things I need to add here and things I need to take away. I need to add time to exercise, more quality time with family, more time volunteering and in humanitarian efforts. I need to spend less time watching TV, playing on the computer, reading things that don't benefit. I need to submit leisure time to the Lord and let Him lead and direct.
God Time: Defined as time spent in prayer, in the Word and in worship. Not to be confined to Sundays and Wednesdays only. I need to spend more time in the Word and more time in intercessory prayer. I am active in many areas of ministry: Letters to My Beloved Ones, teaching 5th grade Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings, teaching women's Bible studies twice a year, being part of the church's prayer team, etc. But God showed me He wants ministry to be something I am, not just something I do. My God time needs to be increasing to non-ceasing, so that while I am working or doing leisure time activities I am still in communion with Him and am ministering to others. All my time needs to become God time.
Food: The goal is three healthy balanced meals a day, water or milk only to drink, and no snacking. Sounds severe, but I think of those who truly don't have enough food to eat and how thankful they'd be for three solid, nutritious meals a day. I don't need snacks. That's just a lust of my flesh. My body will be much healthier if I stick to these guidelines. Now I know all you nurses out there are going to tell me about healthy snacks and 6 small meals a day so I won't get hungry and binge. But this is the plan the Lord laid out for me. So it must be what I need. Honestly, this will probably be the most difficult area for me to trim.
So now I have the plan. Time to start defining the need and eliminating the greed. I don't expect it to be easy. Please pray for me. I'll keep you posted....
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