Today's topic is, ironically, about "gold." Maybe not in the sense of what's in the box in this picture, but certainly as it represents the most valuable of treasures within us. The inspiration for this topic comes from:
Proverbs 22:22-23
"Do not rob the poor because he is poor, Nor oppress the afflicted at the gate; For the Lord will plead their cause, And plunder the soul of those who plunder them.
I am going to assume that, as generally decent folk, those of us reading (and writing) this blog are probably not standing in the shadows of alleyways waiting to trounce upon the poor and downtrodden. However, when we assess the verse through mature eyes of the Spirit, we realize that withholding blessings is a functional kinship unto robbery (See: Malachi 3:8, Matthew 25:40, and James 2:16). When I expand my application of the verse to include this concept of withholding blessings, I feel a genuine conviction, because in this way, if must confess, I am quite guilty of robbery. When my patience is shuttered away from others. When my encouragement and understanding play a masterful game of hide and seek with those who need them. When the light of the love of Jesus, which has been so generously shed abroad in my heart, is dampened by the bowl of selfishness, I have robbed the poor in spirit around me.
Now here is the tough part. When I do that, I set myself at odds with Christ. The Father and I now have goals that are juxtaposed. I am quenching the Spirit. In this condition, the Father has decided that a wake-up call is in order. The word says that He will "plead their cause." This literally means that God will step in to strive and contend with the offender (me). This isn't the romantic wrestling match that Jacob had, no. There, Jacob wrestled with God, intimately, going full bore after God's best. This is different. This is God, wrestling the blessing away from me, so that it can continue its life-changing momentum. I have become a clogged pipe in desperate need of plunging. The word says that he will "plunder the souls" of those who plunder the weak. If I neglect to pass along the blessings that the Father has bestowed upon me, He will step in and repossess from my very soul that which I have selfishly withheld from those He sent to me for the blessing in the first place. The contents of my soul, given to me as part of my inheritance in Christ, are precious to me: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and a host of others. I don't want to lose them! Now, God is not mean, but He is just. If I lose sight of the big picture and start treating His blessings as if they are an endangered species, hording and hiding them, by default I invite Him to radically realign my thinking. He redistributes the wealth of my soul as an exercise of humility and to remind me of the generous nature of Christ to which I committed myself when I first accepted His grace.
Friends, I don't want God to plunder my soul. I want Him to take pleasure in it! If you are like me, you highly value the contents of your soul that are blood-bought and spirit-birthed. Don't lose them to selfishness. Trust the words of Christ - if you give your life away, you will find it! (See Matthew 10:37-42) Your generosity to others will never outpace the replenishment of God.
Forever panning for gold,
Chris Liotta
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