November 10, 2019 – Stewardship Sunday Text: Psalm 23:1b
Dear Friends in Christ,
“I Shall Not Want.” Are you in want? Are you in distress or dire need? These are a few of the synonyms for the word “want” in its usage in our text.
Can we be in want knowing that if you make $40,000 a year you are in the top 4% of earners in the world? Bump it up to $48,000 a year and now you have made it to the top of the world – you are in the highest stratosphere – the 1% of all human beings on earth who make that much money. Can we be in want when we find out that there are 52,000 storage facilities worldwide and 46,000 of them are in the United States? We love our stuff. We are so rich in so many ways yet we seem to have stress upon stress. Maybe we are in want but not in the way many of us think.
Today is stewardship Sunday and the Psalmist has given us a wonderful title for our exploration of this subject . . .
“I SHALL NOT WANT”
How can the Holy Spirit be so bold as to base His assurance to you that you never need to live in worry and want? How about this: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give you all things.” (Romans 8:32)
The Holy Spirit is not asking you to believe in something that might happen. The Holy Spirit’s promise to you is based solidly on a fact of history. This historic event has already happened. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is God’s evidence and guarantee that “You need never want.”
God the Father gave up His Son publicly for you and your sins. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8) Solid evidence of God’s love for you. His second act of grace is that He will give you everything else you need. This is a divine promise.
Do you have friends who are puzzled at your contentment? You don’t want this or that. You have confidence in your future. The next time it happens point to the cross on your neck or your finger or your lapel or your dorm room. And then say, “I believe what the Scriptures say. God did not spare His own Son who went to the cross to pay for my sins. If He did that great act of love I know He will provide everything I need.” Speak with joy. Let people see you are not in want.
Why is it so important to remember this daily? Because Satan is working to destroy you and your family and your loved ones. He works subtly in trying to confuse your thinking. He wants to confuse what you want with what you actually need. You may want many things, but you may actually need very few things. Look to our Epistle lesson where Paul writes, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”
Oh, how we need that strength. Satan is like the spider that uses a web to capture hearts and minds. On television, on our phones and other media platforms, the Prince of Lies uses advertising and programming to confuse our wants with our actual needs. Once Satan can twist your mind you are like a helpless fly caught in His web. Companies spend billions to get you to believe that what you want is what you need.
Once you get caught in this web of confusion then Satan can really go to work. He will then tempt you to reject the Christian faith. Why? In your confusion of your wants with your needs, you begin to believe that God is not really giving you what you need each day. You are trapped and Satan moves in for the final kill. Satan is working hard every hour to destroy your faith and your soul.
We throw it back at Satan today – “I Shall Not Want.” Why? Because “The Lord is my Shepherd.” As our Shepherd, we His sheep are led to where we need to go. Green pastures and still waters. The Lord restores my soul when I get confused about wants and needs. His righteousness leads our path. We don’t fear death or evil or devil because His rod and staff comfort us. Our enemies cannot harm us. We are so blessed that we are not just given a cup but we have one that overflows. Do you see the overflow in your life? The treasure you have been given. The talent you can use for the Lord’s Kingdom. The time He allows you to live on earth to make a difference in your corner of the world. And then once that time comes to a completion you “shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
What a joy and a blessing. May your heart and mind see it this day and every day.
Amen.