You know....I was standing in the shower, and started thinking about the silly season that's fast approaching us. Many people are out of work, with the unemployment rising steadily, banks are foreclosing, people are losing their homes. But then, I also saw the fireworks display in Dubai, U.A.E. For the grand opening ceremonies for the new hotel over there called Atlantis, they'd spent over 200 million dollars on fireworks for just one night. Oh yeah.....the cost to stay over there is something along the lines of 3,000 - 35,000 dollars per night.
Now, I don't know how many of you out there can afford to stay in a place like that, no matter HOW nice it is. Me? I live on 600 dollars/mo., so if I wanted to stay there, I'd have to save for over half a year just for a night. Kind of outrageous, don't ya think?
I then thought about what Yeshua had said one time when He'd stated "It is easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle, than it is for a rich man to get into Heaven".
What? God doesn't like rich people? Well....given the track record thus far of the money changers (like Wall St.), even since the days of the Temple (when Yeshua chased them out), I could kinda see why. I then started to ask myself "why", and figured out a couple of things about that.
It's not that God doesn't want people to be able to get into Heaven (He does, that's why He created it), He just wants them to follow His basic rules of conduct and share with each other. That's kind of how Heaven works.
Most wealthy people that I've seen on the television are generally stingy, and they don't really like to share their wealth. Think Donald Trump for that one. They're main cry is "let someone else take care of it, I'm busy", or they simply just ignore their fellow man and walk away. As a matter of fact, there was some man on CNN who is saying that "greed is good". Now, if Heaven is based on sharing what you have with others when you have some, and since sharing breeds sharing, it's no wonder that they can't get in! They aren't willing to give a bit of themselves to others! Matter of fact, if you start looking for the places where sharing works very well, you're going to find quite a few. Marriage and relationships are another area.
But, to be fair, there are some pretty generous people who REALLY give some of what they have to help others, and not just for showmanship. Oprah Winfrey is one of those all for show types. But, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet? Well......they've given quite a bit of money to help others. Know why? They said that they'd received enough, and they wanted to pass on the rest to others to help out the world.
And, exactly what does all this stuff have to do with soup spoons and hospitality? I'll tell ya........
I then thought about a story that I'd heard one time while traveling through my philosophy studies. A man was visited by God, and He asked the man if there was anything that he would like to know. The man then asked if he could be shown what Hell looks like. God then took him over to a room and opened the door. In the center of the room was a big pot of soup, surrounding the pot of soup were several people, all of them crying and gnashing their teeth because they were hungry (think of yourself when you're hungry.....), and they were unable to feed themselves because they had 3 foot long spoons welded to their hand. Everyone was trying to eat, they couldn't reach their mouths, and they were just in a bad place.
The man then asked if he could see what Heaven looked like. God then took him to another room that was exactly the same....the people had spoons welded to their hands, but there was a difference........
They were feeding each other.
That thought then led me to another Bible story about sharing. A man named Lot. Lot had some angels come to his door one night, as he had asked God to spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The people of the city demanded that Lot turn the angels over to them so that they could do as they wished with them. Lot refused, but told them that they could have his daughters instead.
The reason that Lot refused? Because the angels had already passed under his doorway and into his home, therefore Lot was responsible for his guests.
Saw that very same behavior the other day when I was watching a documentary on what our soldiers are doing in Iraq. It seems that one of their patrols was checking things out in a town during the morning and walked into a man's house. He stated that he was just fixing breakfast for his family, and had plenty to share, and invited the Marines into his home for a hot meal (MRE's get tiresome after awhile by the way). Unfortunately, they had more ground to cover and were unable, but they thanked the man and went on to finish their patrol.
I then thought.......if it is reflected in the Bible, and it is exhibited by the very people that sometimes consider us their mortal enemy, why is it that people in our own country, the very people that claim to espouse those very values of the Bible, refuse to do it? The Muslims are capable, why aren't we?
So......in the spirit of this holiday season, I invite all of you to have a friend or two over for some soup spoons (sharing), and hospitality!
Now, I don't know how many of you out there can afford to stay in a place like that, no matter HOW nice it is. Me? I live on 600 dollars/mo., so if I wanted to stay there, I'd have to save for over half a year just for a night. Kind of outrageous, don't ya think?
I then thought about what Yeshua had said one time when He'd stated "It is easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle, than it is for a rich man to get into Heaven".
What? God doesn't like rich people? Well....given the track record thus far of the money changers (like Wall St.), even since the days of the Temple (when Yeshua chased them out), I could kinda see why. I then started to ask myself "why", and figured out a couple of things about that.
It's not that God doesn't want people to be able to get into Heaven (He does, that's why He created it), He just wants them to follow His basic rules of conduct and share with each other. That's kind of how Heaven works.
Most wealthy people that I've seen on the television are generally stingy, and they don't really like to share their wealth. Think Donald Trump for that one. They're main cry is "let someone else take care of it, I'm busy", or they simply just ignore their fellow man and walk away. As a matter of fact, there was some man on CNN who is saying that "greed is good". Now, if Heaven is based on sharing what you have with others when you have some, and since sharing breeds sharing, it's no wonder that they can't get in! They aren't willing to give a bit of themselves to others! Matter of fact, if you start looking for the places where sharing works very well, you're going to find quite a few. Marriage and relationships are another area.
But, to be fair, there are some pretty generous people who REALLY give some of what they have to help others, and not just for showmanship. Oprah Winfrey is one of those all for show types. But, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet? Well......they've given quite a bit of money to help others. Know why? They said that they'd received enough, and they wanted to pass on the rest to others to help out the world.
And, exactly what does all this stuff have to do with soup spoons and hospitality? I'll tell ya........
I then thought about a story that I'd heard one time while traveling through my philosophy studies. A man was visited by God, and He asked the man if there was anything that he would like to know. The man then asked if he could be shown what Hell looks like. God then took him over to a room and opened the door. In the center of the room was a big pot of soup, surrounding the pot of soup were several people, all of them crying and gnashing their teeth because they were hungry (think of yourself when you're hungry.....), and they were unable to feed themselves because they had 3 foot long spoons welded to their hand. Everyone was trying to eat, they couldn't reach their mouths, and they were just in a bad place.
The man then asked if he could see what Heaven looked like. God then took him to another room that was exactly the same....the people had spoons welded to their hands, but there was a difference........
They were feeding each other.
That thought then led me to another Bible story about sharing. A man named Lot. Lot had some angels come to his door one night, as he had asked God to spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The people of the city demanded that Lot turn the angels over to them so that they could do as they wished with them. Lot refused, but told them that they could have his daughters instead.
The reason that Lot refused? Because the angels had already passed under his doorway and into his home, therefore Lot was responsible for his guests.
Saw that very same behavior the other day when I was watching a documentary on what our soldiers are doing in Iraq. It seems that one of their patrols was checking things out in a town during the morning and walked into a man's house. He stated that he was just fixing breakfast for his family, and had plenty to share, and invited the Marines into his home for a hot meal (MRE's get tiresome after awhile by the way). Unfortunately, they had more ground to cover and were unable, but they thanked the man and went on to finish their patrol.
I then thought.......if it is reflected in the Bible, and it is exhibited by the very people that sometimes consider us their mortal enemy, why is it that people in our own country, the very people that claim to espouse those very values of the Bible, refuse to do it? The Muslims are capable, why aren't we?
So......in the spirit of this holiday season, I invite all of you to have a friend or two over for some soup spoons (sharing), and hospitality!
