Pursuing Purpose, Not Possessions

Money and comfort: the world seems to scream for it like never before. There is a constant dull roar of "get more" that pervades our culture. Alongside it, there are insidious whispers to pursue our own comfort and a growing complacency about other people's pain. The world around us is never satisfied. I love the book of Haggai for this reason- because its evergreen truths flip cultural views on its head in the best way. Haggai was a prophet to the Israelites during the time of first return from exile. One of the focuses of his words was to remind the people to put the Lord at the center of their lives again. 

At the time, the Israelites were living comfortably and neglecting the needs of the Temple. Through Haggai, God was telling the people that they were experiencing emptiness and difficulties because they were putting the emphasis on the wrong things. They were putting their own comfort and their homes in place of God.

In today's culture, we don't have a Temple that needs to be rebuilt. But we do have a body of Christ that needs to be discipled, cared for and cultivated. We do have a lost world we are called to share the Gospel with. Accumulating more money and pursuing comfort fly in the face of both of these commands in Scripture. So how can we consider our ways and live a life that pleases God, not one focused on comfort and money? 

Let's use the acronym CONSIDER and examine eight practical ways to do this.

Cultivate an authentic prayer life. We must stay connected to the Lord to do any of these things. Prayer is not merely speaking to God, it is taking the time to listen to Him and then commit to obey Him.

Own our sin, aka, confess them and be honest about them. Once we've been saved by Christ we don't have to live in sin and shame anymore. But of course, this side of Heaven, we will still fall short and when we do, we can confess our sins and receive and give forgiveness.

"No." We can learn to say no to our flesh and yes to the Holy Spirit. When we know what Scripture commands (and we need to study it to know it) and we do the opposite, we're causing harm to ourselves and the people around us. Let's remember that "No" is a full sentence.

Support other people in their pursuit of God in humility. We all need other people. Some of us live in large communities and some of us live in small communities. Whoever God has given us to support and love, let's do it with the spirit of humility in order to bring them closer to God.

Intentionally become part of or build communities that honor God, not money or comfort. While we don't get to choose a lot of things about life, we do get to choose the way we interact with the world and the people around us. Let's be people who honor God and encourage others to do the same. If we won't prioritize God over money and comfort, we can't expect anyone else to do it for us.

Direct our minds and hearts toward the things of God. Scripture says where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also. Let's put our focus on heavenly minded things and it will help train our attention and hearts on what matters.

Enter into the spiritual battleground with open eyes and prepared hearts and minds. Ephesians reminds us that we're not fighting against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual powers. When put God at the center of life, it will come with a battle and we must not be naive about it. But we can be prepared and put on the spiritual armor God has given us. 

Remember that at the end of all things, Christ has already won the battle. We are free in Christ and He holds the victory. We don't carry any of these burdens and responsibilities alone, the Holy Spirit is in us to help direct and guide us through the Word of God.