Where's Your Security?
It was one of those horrifying moments when all they could do was watch.
It had been the kind of wedding little girls dream about. The dress. The flowers. The groom. The friends and family. The waterfront. The weather. Everything was perfect.
The photography was classic and creative. Everyone was in a great mood. And the boat ferrying the wedding party and guests across the river was magnificent.
On the other side, tables adorned with linen, crystal, and fresh lilies waited beneath stringed lights and antique lanterns. From a distance, one could see the gorgeous multi-tiered cake as the air was filled with the aroma of filets and the chords of an acoustic guitar.
As guests boarded the yacht, the mother-of-the-bride, draped in a truly once-in-a-lifetime evening gown, stood one foot on the dock and one foot on the deck guiding the guests toward the stern and the wedding party toward the bow for a few special photos while crossing the river.
Still directing traffic after the last guest boarded, she missed the ropes being untied and tossed from the dock onto the boat. As they drifted away from the dock, she was left with a split-second decision to step into the boat or onto the dock.
She hesitated.
There was nothing they could do.
She had a foot on the boat and a foot on the dock… until she didn’t.
In a moment everything changed.
All was not lost. She was rescued, and the reception went forward. But her evening was not as she planned. The dress. The hair. The make-up. The shoes. Her phone. Even the jewelry. Gone.
All because she got distracted. She couldn’t decide. And her indecision left her with one foot going forward and the other stuck in the past.
Jesus addresses a similar issue in Matthew 6:19-24 when he compares storing treasures on earth and storing treasures in heaven.
He seems to be asking,
Where’s your focus?
More pointedly, he seems to be asking,
Where’s your source of security?
Where are your feet?
He says, “You cannot serve God and money.”
One will move from the other.
One is your provider. The other is not.
One is a trusted master. The other a mere slave.
If you’re primarily watching and relying on your assets, and calling on God like a genie in a bottle in a crisis, remember this –
Genies are slaves!
And God will not be your slave.
The money and assets entrusted to us enable us opportunities to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
Like the dock, our assets are simply a platform from which we are to launch. By seeking to follow Jesus AND lean on our money or pursuit of money for our security, we’ll find ourselves like the mother-of-the bride, depending on two sources of stability while the one moves away.
Thanks for Reading,
John