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Saturday, September 20, 2014

Currency

I read this passage from Matthew 25 the other night: and it
14-18 “It’s also like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. To one he gave five thousand dollars, to another two thousand, to a third one thousand, depending on their abilities. Then he left. Right off, the first servant went to work and doubled his master’s investment. The second did the same. But the man with the single thousand dug a hole and carefully buried his master’s money.
19-21 “After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.’
22-23 “The servant with the two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master’s investment. His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.’
24-25 “The servant given one thousand said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’
26-27 “The master was furious. ‘That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest.
28-30 “‘Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this “play-it-safe” who won’t go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.’
I'm sure you've read it before. Probably heard a sermon or two even. I've also been reading "7" by Jen Hatmaker and it has WRECKED me. I could copy and paste the whole thing it's so good. It's impossible to narrow down great quotes because they just.keep.coming.

But my point tonight is her book and this passage have me really thinking that this passage might not be just talking about MONEY and can and should relate to other currencies...like our TIME. We are all given the same amount of minutes in a day but how you spend them matters. And I like to think God is capable of making them feel like more or less...depending on how we use them.

Right now my head is reeling from "7" and I'm prayerfully considering what I spend my time on. I'm planning on wasting a lot less time on the distractions of facebook, instagram, pinterest, etsy, etc. in the coming days/weeks and really focusing on using my time intentionally, wisely, investment-mindedly (yep, just made that one up).

I'm even hoping to write more again. And get back to family blogposts with photos. And get my photo books started and finished. And get this spare room turned into a bedroom. And purge this house of stuff to make way for more life! 
I want ROOM. I want SPACE. In my schedule. In my bank account. In my house. I want to be able to be spontaneously generous. I want to be ridiculously generous- with my time, money, heart. With ALL of my currencies that God has given me. I want MORE and in order to get more, I need to be that first servant. Wise and shrewd, and investor. I do not want to be the third servant in any area of my life. 

How about you?