vv 17-18- "You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see."
The conviction was on my heart that I am most certainly very rich compared to the world, even if I don't always feel that way. That I often rely on my own ability to meet my needs instead of relying on God, and a lot of the things that I often purchase are not even needs, they are wants. At which point I realized I needed to do something, to snap me out of "rich but still poor" mentality, and to focus on how amazingly blessed I am. I don't want to be pitiful, poor, blind, and naked as a result of my "richness".
It brought me back to a family who I distantly knew way back in 2010 who went through this "Seven" challenge. I knew a little bit about it, but not too much. So remembering how she was talking about only wearing seven clothes or something like that, I looked up Seven when I got home. It is now a book, written by Jen Hatmaker. I found the description which seemed perfect to deal with my richness-
"7 is the true story of how Jen (along with her husband and her children to varying degrees) took seven months, identified seven areas of excess, and made seven simple choices to fight back against the modern-day diseases of greed, materialism, and overindulgence."
...and it was perfect! So I found a cheap used copy to learn more. It is a cool idea- she picked seven areas of excess and intentionally focussed on one per month- you can see them below on the book cover:
So I started reading and knew I needed to do this- I needed to intentionally do a seven month fast of these things that distract me and numb me to my actual need for God. I think some areas will definitely be easier than others, and truthfully, I just want to be able to share the lesson I think I will learn from that month and not have to do it. Mainly food... I love food... I love different flavors and tastes and recipes... Feel sorry for those around me during food month...
Sometimes I think I can distract myself from the real issues I need to deal with by relying on some of these areas instead of going to God. So I begin- excited but unsure of what is going to be overturned.
So it is September and I will begin- it will lead me on a journey back to God and my need for Him. It will culminate around my 30th birthday- eek! So I can't think of a better way to wrap up a decade and intentionally begin the next. My hope is that it will destroy some these walls and this numbness that has grown around and in my heart. I hope it will open my eyes to the things I have taken for granted and the many ways I am blessed in daily routines that have become that, a routine instead of opportunities for gratitude.
...Here we go!
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