What I've Learned from People Serving Others Pt. 2

Getting out of my own routine and observing how Believers in third world countries follow Christ is always challenging for me. On my flight home from Africa last month, I wrote down several lessons that I don't want to forget. One that ranks near the top is: People who live to serve others overseas, generally hold on to their stuff a lot more loosely than Christians in our culture. Because of distance, inconvenience and expense, these servants don't take much of their stuff with them - they buy what they need locally which most of the time is of inferior quality. Because of this, they don't spend tons of time thinking about their stuff, or purchasing bigger and better products. They are free to give full attention to the purpose of their mission. On the other hand, for those of us working in this culture, we are constantly bombarded with choices that challenge our connection to this culture or whether we're seeking the Kingdom of God with ALL our heart, soul, mind and strength. We're regularly reminded that we should be keeping up with the Jones's. We can easily spend the majority of our time maintaining and upgrading our stuff. Proverbs tells us that the Rich Man has troubles sleeping because he's concerned about his stuff.

Lord, remind me that in you and you alone do I find my joy and my purpose for living!