8.15.9 "Slaves in the Land of Plenty"

"Slaves in the Land of Plenty"

Nehemiah 9:22 - 10:39
I Corinthians 9:20 - 10:14
Psalm 34:1-10
Proverb 21:13

The book of Nehemiah records a prayer of Ezra, in which he proclaims a covenant that all the people sign to declare their commitment to serve the Lord. He prayed this after reading the laws of the Lord, and proclaiming the history of his people. This is what he says in Neh. 9:35-36:

"They did not worship you despite the wonderful things you did for them and the great goodness you showered upon them. You gave them a large, fat land, but they refused to turn from their wickedness. So now we are slaves here in the land of plenty which you gave to our ancestors! Slaves among all this abundance!"

Reading this one can not help but think of the state of our nation, even the state of the church. We are slaves in the land of abundance. Specifically, I'm thinking in the area of finances.

Our family loves games. One of our games of choice is Monopoly. It's been a blast to see our daughter learn to count money and make change, etc. Parker Brothers and Visa have now partnered to release the new monopoly which has no cash, but comes with cute little credit cards, and a swipe machine that keeps track of what each player has and owes. What a "great" way to teach youth that debt is now a way of life... slaves in the land of plenty.

In I Corinthians Paul is talking about how we need to run to win. "In a race, everyone runs but only one person gets first prize. So run your race to win. To win the contest you must deny yourselves many things that would keep you from doing your best." (I Cor. 9:24-25)

As a society, we're not known for denying ourselves anything. We want it, so we get it, regardless of if we have to go in debt to get it. We don't realize how this paralyzes us. Imagine if all Christians were debt free. About 10 years ago I had a friend tell me that Christians should be debt free. At the time I thought he was NUTS! But think about it! What would the state of the church be? How strong would the missions programs be? How strong would ministries be? How about taking care of the poor?

Proverbs 21:13 says, "He who shuts his ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in his own time of need." Think about how being in debt shuts the ears to the needy. "I'd give, but I've got these payments..."

I Cor. 10:12-14 says, "So be careful. If you are thinking, 'Oh, I would never behave like that' - let this be a warning to you. For you too may fall into sin. but remember this - the wrong desires that come into your life aren't anything new and different. Many other have faced exactly the same problems before you. And no temptation is irresistible. You can trust God to keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it, for he has promised this and will do what he says. He will show you how to escape temptation's power so that you can bear up patiently against it. So dear friends, carefully avoid idol-worship of every kind."

Let's throw off everything that entangles today! Christ died to bring us freedom, not bondage. Let's worship him with all that we have so we are no longer slaves in the land of plenty.






Through the Power of the Spirit,
Live the DREAM!

P Greg


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