Today’s Reading Matthew 6
Over the last several years, I have come to embrace the concept of the Reset. It is a concept that allows you to manage the complexities of life with a reasonable expectation of change. The definition of insanity is where you continue to repeat the same thing over several repetitions with the expectation that things will change. The concept of Reset knows that the result will have an impact at a later time, yet not instantaneously.
I became familiar with the concept in the beginning of my career as a pharmacist. At one of my first assignments as a newly credentialed pharmacist, I had the opportunity to work with many different individuals. One such individual would consistently finish a closing shift with everything in disarray. Each morning after the individual worked, I would have to open the pharmacy, which was in a state of chaos and flux. After a couple of weeks of this behavior, I allowed myself to listen to the concept of RESET. I would come into the pharmacy without being disgruntled and upset and saw it as a chance to RESET the pharmacy and then create a place of healing and peace. This allowed me to take control of the situation and not allow others to determine my overall mindset and spirit.
Over the last several weeks, we have been able to enjoy the risen Christ and the Easter season. Until recently, I did not know that the season of Easter is 50 days, which span from Easter Sunday to the day of Pentecost. This is a season of RESET. Christ has reset the complete bounds of death and sickness and darkness. Before the Passion and the cross, Christ was teaching about the RESET in his Sermon on the Mount.
In Matthew Chapter 6, Christ is resetting our perspectives on several critical points in life: Giving, Prayer, Fasting, Money, and Worry. Anyone of these items would and can cause chaos in the absence of Christ in the first century. These same items that are preached on at the mountaintop are some of the items that we still have issues with today if we are not in the company of Christ. Even if we are in true devotion of Christ these five things still shake us daily, but we have a anchor in Christ to keep us focused. So how does Christ walk through these five:
- Giving: Give without being boastful and give with a sincere heart. It’s not for the outside to know how much or how often you are giving. God sees the heart and not the hand.
- Prayer: God knows the desires of the faithful and the prayers of your heart before you can create the words. It is not the performance of the prayers, yet the time spent in devotion with him.
- Fasting: God does not take pleasure in your hurting and suffering as a show, but he wants the time of your devotion from other things( fasting) and focusing the time on Him. He will provide all of the things that you need for growth and survival and prosperity.
- Money: God creates the opportunity for you to have wealth and prosperity. He doesn’t want money or riches. He creates these with the spoken word, he wants you to desire His presence as much as the riches the world desire.
- Worry: When we RESET our purpose and understanding, then worry will cease to be. We know that we will be cared for and reside in the promise that God has for us. This knowledge will then allow us to not focus on the unknown, yet embrace the being of God.
Father,
As we reflect on the Sermon on the Mount, we see that is relevant today as it was when you spoke these words into existence. Allow us to not get caught up in the chaos of the world, but be able to allow the Holy Spirit to RESET us daily in the knowledge of your mercy and grace. Amen