We live in a finite world, and each of us is constrained by limitations on resources available to us. Some of those resources, such as time, are fixed for each of us, as no one has more hours in their day than anyone else. Other resources, such as money, are not so evenly distributed, but even Elon Musk has a limit on the financial resources available to him. The rest of us just happen to have a significantly lower level of funding available. We can’t be everywhere at once and we can’t do everything at the same time; therefore, we have to weigh our options and make decisions with the realization that the decision to do one thing may well prevent us from doing another thing.
Sometimes the decision to do one thing over another is easy, as the desire to do something or the benefits associated with it are considerably better than the other choices. However, there are other decisions where the balance seems much closer. When we are faced with those choices, other people may have a harder time understanding why we decided to do what we did, and they might even hold it against us. There are, however, some times when we might make the wrong choice because we didn’t properly weigh or understand the options.
In the seventh chapter of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus chastises his audience for putting more emphasis on their own traditions than on the commandments of God when they committed their resources to the temple instead of using them to help their mothers and fathers in need. It is difficult to argue against giving money to the church, but there was a higher commandment to be observed – you shall honor your father and mother – that was more important than declaring their resources to be dedicated for the church to use. I’m sure that the temple priests weren’t thrilled to hear Jesus advocating that resources that they would have been expecting be instead put to a different use, but ensuring that the needs of our parents are met is the better choice.
Hopefully you aren’t struggling with the decision between giving your parents the assistance that they need or supporting your local church (if you are, my advice is that you do as Jesus suggests), but I’m confident that you will have other decisions to make that will ultimately make a person or group of people unhappy. The good news is that it isn’t your responsibility to make everyone happy. Your responsibility is to make the decisions that are pleasing to God, reflecting His will for your life and His commandments, in keeping with the resources that He has given you stewardship over. When you make decisions based upon those concepts, placing God’s commandments over manmade traditions, you honor the one who has blessed you with every resource that you have available, even the very breath in your lungs.
May you be known as someone who makes wise decisions!
Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron