The Bible says all we need is food to eat and clothes to wear (1 Tm 6:8). Very few Christians agree with this. Most feel they at least need a house for shelter, insurance for security, a car for transportation, a phone for communication, and a TV for entertainment. What Americans consider a simple life is extravagant by Biblical standards.
The Bible considers the typical American lifestyle a "temptation and a trap" (1 Tm 6:9). By our lifestyle, we let ourselves "be captured by foolish and harmful desires which drag men down to ruin and destruction" (1 Tm 6:9).
When Jesus talked like this to "the Pharisees, who were avaricious men" (Lk 16:14), they "began to deride Him. He said to them: 'You justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God reads your hearts. What man thinks important, God holds in contempt' " (Lk 16:14-15).
We must let Jesus be Lord of our lifestyle. Otherwise, He's not Lord of our lives.
| PRAYER: | Father, may they know we are Christians by our lifestyle, lived in love for You and for others. |
| PROMISE: | Jesus "journeyed through towns and villages preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God." –Lk 8:1 |
| PRAISE: | Robert and Margaret raised their children without television, but with much reading of Scripture. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College