LOST

Have you ever gotten lost? I am not talking about going the wrong way on the way to Grandma’s house, nor when your mom left you in the toy section at Wal-Mart and then told you to stay put, but you decided to wander around. I’m talking about wet your pants…break out in a cold sweat…heart stuck in your throat…lost.

Have you ever gotten lost like that…I have. When I was in the seventh grade my family…grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins…all went to Buena Vista, Colorado for a week of fishing, hiking and relaxing in the Rocky Mountains. Just down the road on the way to the ghost town St. Elmo is a place where the Colorado Trail intersects with the county road. It is a good place to stop. A cold mountain stream runs parallel to the road. There are lots of trees. It is a nice place to stop for a picnic.

We decided to hike a little of the Colorado trail. We crossed the stream on a footbridge then hiked across the valley up on a mountain on the other side. My parents headed back and my brother, uncle and I continued on a little longer.

After climbing up the mountain a little ways, we decided to turn back and head for the car. Now back then everything was a competition, I decided I was going to beat everyone back to the car. So I took off at a run heading down the mountain.

Now somehow on the way back I missed the trail. Instead of stopping to find it, I kept going thinking that I would eventually intersect it somewhere. I didn’t. I don’t know if you have ever been in the mountains before, but it gets dark early, and with the darkness it gets chilly.

So there I was, a young teenager lost in the Colorado Mountains. It was getting dark and cold and there was only one thing I could think of…HELP…MOMMY!!!! I thought I knew where I was going. Boy, was I wrong.

If you were to ask Jenn she would tell you I have a tendency to get misplaced. I never get lost, there are just sometimes I don’t know where I am. I am a typical male, I don’t usually ask for directions. I figure I will find my way eventually.

The book of Proverbs talks about that, a proverb is a wise saying, and piece of good advice we should listen to.

Proverbs 14:12—there is a way that seems right to a man but in the end in leads to death.

We may think we know where we are going or how to live our life right but if not careful we will end up getting lost. That is why God has given us his word, the Bible. The Bible is God’s road map for our lives.

So over the next several weeks I want to take a closer look at this road map.

By the way, I did get found!

Bringing Home the Bacon.

We are finishing up what we started several weeks ago on being a steward. A steward is simply someone who has the responsibility to use someone else’s possessions in the right way. So far we have talked about being a good steward of our time and talents. Today we finish by talking about everyone’s favorite subject…our treasure.

I personally don’t like to talk about money. Most people figure money is a minister’s favorite topic. It may be some minister’s favorite thing to preach on. I don’t enjoy it. But it is impossible to get away from it in the Bible, especially in the teachings of Jesus. Half of the parables he taught were about being good stewards of our financial resources.

In this story we read in Matthew 25, each servant was given an amount of money that was to be used in the correct manner. The master or boss trusted them to use it in a way that would benefit him.

So the question we have to ask is…what is the correct use of our treasure? If we believe that God has given it to us and that we should use it in the correct manner…how are we to know what he wants us to do with it? The answer can be found in Acts 20:35. It says, “Remember the words of the Lord Jesus; it is more blessed to give than to receive.” His intention, his desire is that we are generous with what he has entrusted to us.

It was the day after Christmas and a man parked his car to pick up the morning paper. He noticed outside the store a dirty, poorly dressed boy, looking at his car. Seeing the boy he reminded himself to be quick about his errand or he might lose a hubcap or two. He came out of the store with his paper under his arm and just as he was about ready to open the door to the car, the little boy asked, “Mister, how much does a car like that cost?” The man replied, “I don’t really know, my brother gave this car to me as a gift.” The ragged little boy looked at the man and looked at the car, and then with wonder in his eyes he said, “Wow, I wish I could be a brother like that.”

Shouldn’t we all have that kind of mindset that it would be better to be able to give the car away then to have the car given to us? That it is better to give than receive?
Of course, the real issue is, what do we worship? Is it God or our possessions? We don’t have to be rich to struggle with our possessions becoming idols. Honestly, when it comes to our possessions, treasure or money, there really are only two choices. Either our treasure will be an idol or a tool. We will either worship our possessions and treasures or we will use them as tools to help increase the kingdom of God.

It was Jesus who said, “Where our treasure is our heart will be also.” What we place the greatest value on, we will spend our life trying to achieve.

Christian life is about priorities… either God is a priority in our life or our earthly goods will be. It was also Jesus who said in Matthew 6:24… “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

We should be good and wise stewards of our treasure