This morning our family worshiped with the brethren at the Njiro congregation. We always enjoy worshiping here. Though they be few in number, there are some good people here. During one of the prayers offered this morning, my heart was struck at some words which were uttered.
But first, you must understand context.
The home of the one who led the prayer is kind of like “The Projects” of Tanzania –
rows of apartment-like dwellings for factory workers.
Their space consists of two very small rooms.
There is a small cubby hole where some food preparation is done.
There is a tiny closet-sized toilet room, with just a hole in the ground.
Their space consists of two very small rooms.
There is a small cubby hole where some food preparation is done.
There is a tiny closet-sized toilet room, with just a hole in the ground.
No sink. No shower.
No running water. No electricity.
Now, with that in mind, think about this.
Our brother prayed that we should not lay up our treasures on earth, because there are thieves and these earthly things will decay, but we should lay up our treasures in heaven.
Isn’t that humbling to you? It is to me.
We may look at conditions in which our Tanzanian brethren live and think they are very poor.
By U.S. standards they are.
But U.S. standards don’t matter in the least. They are not “the” standard.
George once asked his class of preacher students how many consider themselves to be poor.
None of them thought so.
Just maybe some of our brethren in third-world countries have a better handle on what it means
to lay up our treasures in heaven.
They don’t have a lot of “things” in which to put their trust,
but hope for a better place is very real to them.
What things do you treasure most?
Can they be stolen?
Can they rust? Will they decay?
Maybe it’s time to reevaluate where we are storing our treasures.
Matthew 6:19-20
I didn't comment on this when I first read it, but this is a really good entry, Mom. It sure is humbling to see that kind of attitude!
I have been thinking alot about this lately. All the 'clutter' that takes our time, energy and thoughts away from eternal things. Thanks for sharing.
This was a wonderful Sunday for me…the Njiro congregation was such a neat group of people!
Thanks for posting this…those people really touched my heart. 🙂
Very good, Mom.
Wow…perspective.