What are we here for?

Psalm 82:3-4: Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

James 2:15-16: Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?

James 4:2b-3: You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

These verses and countless others in the Old and New Testaments challenge my worldview and beliefs about money and my purpose here on earth. My number one purpose is for relationship with the Father. Judging by how many times the Bible talks about caring for the widows, orphans, poor, weak and oppressed I would have to say that these people groups are close to God's heart and should be high on my list of priorities. Accordingly, God has laid a burden on my heart for this sector of society.

Recently, through a variety of methods, God has been revealing to me that many of my (and societies) views of money and comfort are incredibly selfish and self-centered. James states it very well when he says that we ask to spend on our own desires. How true!

What do we do when we get that raise, Christmas bonus, tax refund, or inheritance? We go buy the nicer car, bigger house, new TV, new toy, etc. Recently I read that John Wesley determined early in life what amount of money he needed to live and promised that anything that he earned above that amount he would give away to the poor. When he made that pact he did not earn much more than the determined amount, but by the time of his death he was earning 50 times that amount and was giving all of the extra away. He also said that if he died with more than 10 British pounds in his possession he would consider that he had stolen that money from someone in need.

How about it? How often do we decide that our car isn't good enough, our house is too small or old, our clothes are out of style, or dare I say it, our church building is inadequate? Meanwhile, a majority of the world's population is living hand to mouth with barely enough food to survive or decent clothes to wear. In the communities where we work the houses are tiny and often made of sticks and mud with black plastic as a roof. One woman in particular, whose house is about 10' wide by 20' long is always welcoming people to sleep in her house. I know that at least on one occasion 14 people spent the night in that tiny house. How many of us think that our 3 bedroom homes are too small, when more than likely our living rooms are larger than this woman's house?

These recent revelations have challenged me to re-evaluate all of my desires and plans. I still struggle with knowing when to give, how to really help someone, and knowing what is excess. This will likely be a struggle for the rest of my life, but I am content to know that God is still working on me.