Rich

I have to make a confession. I like to watch cars go round and round on a track. I like Nascar. Don't knock it unless you've experienced it! There's nothing like sitting...no standing, in the stands as 43 cars go by, bumper-to-bumper, at 200 mph! Talk about about a rush. Tonight I saw the end of the last race of the season in Homestead, Florida. I saw Jimmy Johnson become the Nextel Cup Champion for the third straight season. Something only one other driver has ever done. Pretty cool. Then something happened that really made me jealous. For his accomplishment, they handed Jimmy a check for $7.2 million dollars! That blew me away. $7.2 million dollars for driving a race car...for driving in a circle and turning left. I'm really jealous! But, seriously, it made me really think about what our world...our society...culture, rewards. Again, understand, I really like racing. I like to go to the races. I've taken my whole family to Daytona several times to the Pepsi 400, and my girls even like to go. But, it really struck me as I saw him lift that check high over his head for $7.2 million dollars, about the vast difference between what God values and what others value...what God rewards and others reward.

We've been having a discussion about money here at Mosaic the last couple of Saturday nights. A hot topic for all of us lately, especially in this election we just experienced. But, there are a couple of things that I am continually reminded of: 1) Compared to the rest of the world, most of us here in America are rich. If you have a car then you are rich, because 90% of the world doesn't own one. If you have fresh, clean, running water, then you are are rich, because most of the world doesn't. I don't have to have $7.2 million to be rich, just have a car. Here's what the Apostle Paul says to us rich folk: "Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever imagine--to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous." (1 Timothy 6:17-18 The Message) I don't know what Jimmy Johnson will do with all that cash...it doesn't matter...I don't answer for him. But for rich folks like me, God values being rich toward others and generosity. 2) In God's Kingdom everything is reversed. In His kingdom, the last will be first and the least will be honored. I'm a citizen of the kingdom of God here on this earth. To make a difference in the kingdom here and now, then my values have to be reversed also. The last and least, not the first and the most, should be where my values lay.
I'm still jealous, though. $7.2 million for driving a car! Where's the fairness in that? Oh, well, God knows.
Duane