Greater Sacrifice | Day 18

Podcast Intro [00:00:00]:
Are you experiencing greater things in this season? We want to hear about it. Share your story at transformation at soulcitychurch.com.

Host [00:00:10]:
Welcome to the Greater Things daily devotional where we're asking the question, God, what is the greater thing you want to do in me and through me? So wherever you are, I invite you to quiet your soul and pray this ancient prayer after me. Come, Holy Spirit. This week, we're meditating on greater sacrifice and what that could look like for us in our lives. Today's devotional is out of Matthew chapter 6 verses 19 through 20. It says, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal, But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. There's this old, really famous experiment in social science called the marshmallow test. A few decades ago, scientists brought a group of 5 year olds in for a study where they would set the child down and place a marshmallow on the table in front of them. The scientists would then tell the 5 year old that they were gonna leave the room, and if the 5 year old could wait until the scientist got back before eating the marshmallow, then the child would get another marshmallow.

Host [00:01:49]:
Then, using cameras, the scientists would watch and see if these children would claim their marshmallow instantly, or if they would be willing to wait in order to get a greater prize. The study then took it one step further and followed these 5 year olds through the rest of their schooling career. And what they found was that, in general, the children who were willing to delay the gratification of the 1 marshmallow, and wait for a second one, those children were more likely to perform highly in school, and went on to more prestigious colleges. Now, I myself was not a member of that original study, but I can guarantee you that my 5 year old self would have devoured the first marshmallow you put in front of me. In the passage in Matthew 6 that we just read, Jesus is in the middle of the most famous teaching he would ever give, the Sermon on the Mount, and in it, Jesus gives a very famous lesson about our treasure. And in a way, Jesus here is giving us his own version of the marshmallow test. Now, the focus and the promise here is not simply that if we wait, God is gonna give us a greater gift later on, But the focus of Jesus' teaching, rather, is far more around the temporary versus the eternal and what we will focus our lives and our attention on. In this life, will we prioritize temporary treasures, things like physical resources, or wealth, attractiveness, reputation, status, title, influence, fame? Or will we focus first and foremost on what is eternal, God's presence and promises over our lives? God's calling and invitation to love God and love our neighbor? Ultimately, the question that's asked of followers of Jesus is, are you willing to sacrifice the temporary the eternal? Now, it's not that temporary treasures are bad or that we shouldn't have them, but are we willing to prioritize the eternal things of God over the temporary treasures of this life? Are we actually willing to sacrifice our resources by investing them in God's eternal purposes? And I just wonder if you might take a moment just to consider what it might look like for you to do this.

Host [00:04:31]:
Like, where have you seen or experienced God at work in your life? Where do you feel like you have encountered eternal work? Now, how might you make an investment in that work? What might it look like for you to use your resources to work with God in that space? At the end of the day, the question really is, are you willing to forego the first marshmallow, believing that God still has greater things to

Podcast Intro Voice [00:05:09]:
come.

Host [00:05:13]:
Now, I wanna invite you to repeat this prayer after me. Father, I pause and welcome more of you. Slowly breathe in and breathe out to be fully present with You in this moment. God, I confess that sometimes I focus on and value temporary things too much. Help me today to focus on and invest in what is eternal. And god, I pray that you would use my investment to bring about transformation both in my life and in the lives of others.