stones

So.. Jesus goes for a walk along a stony road with his disciples and tells them each to pick up a stone to carry. John picks up a large one and carries this, while Peter picks the smallest stone to carry. Smart idea? Well.. I guess he wasn't struggling to carry it.. and he was still obeying the commandment of Jesus, right? John, however, chose the big heffa stone to carry and is most likely struggling to lug the over sized chunk of Earth with him. I can just imagine them walking along the road.. Peter probably slipped his stone into his pocket or playfully tossed it as he walked along the road, whilst John sweats and aches carrying the large stone. They get to a point where they are hungry and tired from their walk and Jesus says 'stones..turn into bread' and bamshabam each of the stones carried by the disciples turns into bread. Obviously Peter's stone being small is not enough to satisfy him, so John shares some of his with him. Jesus then says, 'lads, choose another stone, we are going to walk again'... so Peter, feeling as though he has this all worked out and knows how the game runs chooses a massive stone. He struggles along carrying the stone believing the at the end of the walk he will be rewarded for his efforts. When they stop, Jesus says 'throw your stones in the river' and Peter is left dumbfounded. I can imagine his frustration and confusion, because he had struggled to carry this stone all the way and then WHAT THE?!?! What good is a stone thrown in the river?? Jesus turns to Peter and says 'Who did you carry this stone for? For me?... or for yourself?'

SO many times in offering sermons I hear the same old, 'God doesn't need your money, but what a blessing it is to give to him! Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Isn't it wonderful knowing that our offerings are refunded ten fold?! Let's give church, lets give give GIVE'.

Yes - cool.. give ten percent.. that is great.. but if our motives for giving aren't 100% out of pure desire to give without the expectation of receiving.. then surely we are being just like Peter was that day on the stony road? If we carry a heavy load in life expecting that blessing will follow... and aren't prepared to carry that same load purely because it has been asked of us.. aren't we doing a Peter? I believe God blesses. No doubt about it. But I don't believe we can earn his blessing or his favour. It is already there. We can't become MORE blessed.. we just become more aware of our blessings. He doesn't favour or love us more according to what we do.. we just learn to recognise his love. I feel most blessed when my attitude is 100% for the kingdom. Let me define what I mean by 'blessed'... I'm not talking an extra $100 in my pay packet, or winning a small lottery, or being given gifts, or anything human in fact.. When I think of blessing, I think of that indescribable feeling/knowing that I am connected to God in a way I simply can not explain. Somehow, in the times I am fighting against a million blows and burns coming at me, I feel most blessed. There is power in knowing that I am capable of forgiveness in the most unforgiving circumstances, that my heart attitude towards life's blows and burns is what gives me reason to carry the stone..

I stuff up. All the time. I say 'yes..erm.. it is ok that I am struggling with this now because I know it will all work out and I will be so much better off because of it and wow, how much is God going to bless me after this!?'... it is quite a common thought pattern. I think back to the stony road. Hope is good. And Peter hoping for a nice chunk of bread at the end of the road is fine.. in fact it is great.. hoping in God for fulfillment and blessing is wonderful.. but simply living knowing that you are blessed already, and that you don't need to earn it, that is when you carry that heavy stone without even considering opting for the smaller one. That is how I want to live.


Just a thought.