Thought for 14 August

 

Luke 12:22

²² Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear.  

John 14:2

² There is more than enough room in my Father’s home.  If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?

I’ve chosen two passages from scripture today because they contain the word ‘enough’.  While out walking last week while ‘dog sitting’, I had time to think without the distractions of the Olympics, facebook or any of the other means of modern communication viewed as ‘progress’ and this word kept popping into my head and made me think about it further!

Enough isn’t an actual number, it isn’t a fixed amount, it’s impossible to quantify and for each of us, the answer to what is enough will be different.  When I think back to going to an ‘all you can eat buffet’ with friends, by the end of the meal, we will all have had enough but we will all have had different amounts of different types of food.  I love people watching and when looking at surrounding tables and seeing how much is on some of the plates, it made me realise that what was enough for those at my table bore little resemblance to what was going to be enough for some of those at the surrounding tables!  The buffet provides more than enough food to choose from, each of us just has to decide how much we choose.

The importance of what clothes we wear will once more, mean more to some than it will to others.  It obviously meant a lot to Imelda Marcos, whose husband was a prominent politician in the Philippines.  She is said to have had over three thousand pairs of shoes as well as many other luxury items.  It sounds like she would never have enough shoes while the rest of us get by easily with an awful lot less!!!  Some are dedicated followers of fashion while others just choose what they are comfortable wearing.  Some don’t have enough to clothe themselves properly and others have more clothes than they will ever wear.

For some, enough will not be very much.  For others, they will never feel they have enough.  I believe the former has a much greater chance of bringing contentment compared to the latter.

In our first reading, Jesus tells us that worrying about these type of things is unnecessary in terms of how much food we have to eat and how much clothes we have to wear.  In our second reading, Jesus shows that he knows confidently that there will be enough room for us in heaven in the next life, in fact, not just enough, Jesus tells us that there will be more than enough room for us there.

Prayer – Heavenly Father, Father, we confess that we worry about many things, rather than trusting your word implicitly. Help us learn to cast all our cares upon you, day by day, and moment by moment. As each worry and concern forms in our minds, we pray that the Holy Spirit will take these thoughts and anxieties and set them before you knowing that you have promised to carry us through all of life's difficulties and provide for the needs of your followers.  We thank you for your goodness and grace and ask you to prepare a place for each and every one of us when we can be with you forever.  In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Father,  Amen   (with thanks to knowing Jesus.com)