Daily Reading // Isaiah 32:1-20
READY // SILENCIO
Take a moment to quiet your mind and prepare your heart for your time with the Lord.
READ // LECTIO
Read the passage above up to three times aloud. Allow yourself to feel the words as they are read.
REFLECT // MEDITATIO
Now direct your focus on the words, phrases concepts or sentences that got your attention. What is God speaking to you today through His word?
Isaiah 32:5 The foolish person will no longer be called generous, Nor the miser said to be bountiful;
There are many people that have an unhealthy relationship with money. In fact, it is probably very difficult to have a healthy relationship with money. She sure plays hard to get.
Sometimes what we call generous is really just foolish. What we might admire as a large net worth is actually just miserly. Somewhere in the space between foolish and miserly lies a healthy relationship with money.
Judas, the betrayer of Jesus, sold his soul for thirty pieces of silver just as Joseph’s brothers violated their family for the same amount. It is as hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven as it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. The prodigal son left his loving father for his half of the inheritance. Once it ran out, he came crawling back.
Jesus commended a poor widow for giving all she had, a very small amount, in the temple treasury.
All of this and more leads me to reflect upon my relationship with money. Is it healthy or unhealthy? Is it miserly or foolish? Does it put other relationships at risk? Do I give it too much attention and too much priority. Does it get in the way of my relationship with a God?
Money is a servant, not a master. It is a tool, not a goal.
RESPOND // ORATIO
Pray in response to what the Lord has spoken to you.
Jesus, Reveal to me things about my attitude towards money - both good and bad. I cannot serve two masters. I want to serve You, not the empty promises of money. Amen.
Tomorrow’s reading -> Psalm 18:1-24