Thoughts

The Bible is a representation of God's heart. These will be random thoughts, but they are ones that have pressed on my mind of late.

We are truly wicked, and by that as people we put ourselves first, our wants and what we think is our needs. When we do this, we are in sin. We should put others ahead of the things of this world. Money is a thing of this world and yet we constantly put our finances ahead of serving others, or use money as an excuse for why people have to suffer. In the safety course I'm teaching lack of funding is often cited as the reason that things aren't as safe as they could be. The great OSHA feels underfunded, so they can't do what they feel like they should. Money ahead of people is sin. God teaches in His word a better way, and its free. We should put the needs of others above our own. We should serve others, and focus on what we can do to meet their needs.

Imagine a world where that is done. People concerned with making sure others have a dry warm place to sleep, plumbing, food. Instead of the self focus we often see where "our home is our castle". We often justify our actions by saying our work ethic is somehow better than another's. Now we are comparing ourselves and we are becoming a respecter of men. God isn't.

We as people tend toward selfishness, wanting our way, wanting ease, looking for the path with the most return for the least amount of effort. Self focused. What we don't realize and we should probably be made aware of is that any good we ever do, any unselfish act, is not out of any goodness we have but rather it is Christ shining out of us in some way. We can let Christ shine through us in some areas and be completely selfish and un-Christ like in others. Since without Christ we are selfish and wicked, then what do we deserve? What is just for us? We have it usually far better than any of us really deserve, and yet we aren't satisfied because we are selfish we are quick to see where "improvements" could be made and those improvements need almost invariably to be made by someone else. Them doing one more thing for us, because we have an elevated view of our self.

Its not the heart of God that we should take part in another's misfortune, or try and benefit from it. We should seek God's guidance (plan ahead), put the needs of others above our own, that costs nothing but a change of our heart away from self focus, and not be afraid serve other's needs first. When we have disputes we should focus on God's ways, realize that what we actually deserve and what we think we have deserved have gradually separated. Pray for others, that they will grow closer to God, and not necessarily that they see your way.