Freedom in Simplicity

I have been reading from Richard Foster's Freedom of Simplicty. He makes some very strong freeing statements between the lines. I think many of them are worth posting:

"JESUS saw how people were crushed by the failure to obtain riches." Isn't that the truth...such a meaningless, endless race to own things.

"HE knew the cancerous nature of wealth...Riches are deceitful precisely because they lead us to trust in them, and JESUS saw that trap and the spiritual destructiveness which attends it." Such strong language, but I think many times we tone it down as we read in order to justify our own addictions to money and possessions. What would happen if I actually treated money like an anti-body...it can be a small dose of a bacteria taken only so my body learns to defeat it, or it can be a large does bacteria that brings me to my knees.

When describing a young wealth ruler Foster points out "Not only did he have great possessions, but more significantly, the great possessions had him. Of all oppressions his was the most spiritually debilitating." It makes sense that the more we strive to own the more tied down we feel. When it isn't ours we have more flexibility.

"When JESUS said that 'no one can serve two masters,' HE did not mean that it was unwise to serve two masters, but that it was impossible." Well shoot..! Then why do we try..?

"When this spirit of trust pervades all of our efforts, we understand the unwisdom of borrowing evil from tomorrow." Said in relation to being anxious and stressed out about tomorrow's bills, demands, or wants.

"Earlier HE had blamed killings and wars on the lust for possessions: You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war (James 4:1-2)." I always thought this to mean fights within myself over a not so wise purchase...but considering my major (International Studies) I had not thought about wars between nations...but it fits.

And the one that kicked my butt tonight:
"What we discover from the New Testiment witness is the combination of a penetrating criticism of wealth with a carefree, almost light-hearted attitude toward possessions. It is a combination seldom found today."

I have been on cloud nine lately because GOD's provision has just stopped me dead in my tracks. HE has brought me two jobs with wonderful atmospheres, GOD-loving bosses, flexible hours, and perfect stress(less) levels. I have been provided for in so many detailed ways that it's hard to count my blessings lately. And reading over this chapter has been good for me; I don't want to get so wrapped up in celebrating what GOD has given me that I forget to give it away and spread the wealth. JESUS did celebrate often, and I plan to follow that step; but HE also spent hours upon hours with the broken and the needs and I want a heart like that as well. I know what it means to live with a "criticism of wealth with a carefree, almost light-hearted attitude towards possession," but hopefully I don't only live that way when things are going well and I feel good.