Jer 31:31-34 / Mt 16:13-23
When it’s time to prepare a tax return or when the IRS shows up for an audit, there are very few people anywhere who fail to ask the question: “What’s the least that I can do and still stay out of trouble.” It’s a fair question in that circumstance, and we’d be foolish not to ask it.
Unfortunately, that way of thinking can invade other parts of our lives and can impoverish us exactly where we ought to be rich and happy. Imagine thinking in those minimalist terms when it comes to your spouse, or children, or best friends. It surely doesn’t leave much room for the giving that comes from the heart and binds us together.
Worse yet, imagine how that kind of thinking can spoil your relationship with the Lord. If your imagination isn’t that good, just take a look at the many folks who visit our churches on weekends to get their Sunday obligation “out of the way.” They come late and leave early, and their sour faces tell more than we want to know about the condition of their hearts.
The prophet Jeremiah shows us a far better way of living, where the law is written on our hearts and not just in books, and where we find our truest joy in giving our best from the heart without counting the cost.
What question guides your life? Is it the IRS question: “What’s the least I can do?” Or is it the Lord’s question: “What’s the best I can do?” Just keep in mind: As you sow, so shall you reap!
