Because I said so

Hebrews 13:1-8
5- Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, BECAUSE GOD HAS SAID, Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.

That phrase was made famous by parents all over the world. When whiny children ask the question "why?" the answer is almost always "because I said so!".  What does that even mean? Of course you said so, but WHY? I've been thinking about this one for a while and this is what I have come up with.

At least once in our life we have asked the question "why" of God. We pray and ask Him to show us what He wants for our life, lead us in His will, what is my purpose?! When He finally tells us, we become the children that we are and ask "why?". Does God need a reason? Does He have to explain to us His plan after we've asked Him to show it to us? NO! We simply should listen and obey BECAUSE HE SAID!

His word is full of commands and promises and we read them and think "those are great words" and that's it! He is calling us to do His work and we're asking WHY!!! Since I've been in Thailand I have seen at least one person a day with a shirt on that says save the planet, clean our air, recycle reduce reuse; and I thought to myself, if we spent as much time and energy on saving souls as we do on "trying" to save our planet, how many will come to know Christ? God already promises us a NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH so why are we trying to save this one? He has called us to be fishers of men and harvesters of souls. In 1 Peter 1:13-25, Peter is telling us that we should prepare our minds for ACTION, be SELF-CONTROLLED, and set our hope FULLY on the grace that will be revealed. He says that as obedient CHILDREN we should not conform to the evil desires we had when we lived in ignorance, but just as He who called us to be holy, we should be Holy because He is Holy! It goes on to say that we should live as strangers in this world in reverent fear because it was not by perishable things such as silver or gold that we were redeemed from our empty way of life, but by the precious blood of CHRIST!

We have become so concerned with our life on this earth, the possessions we collect and the beauty that adorns us that we are no longer strangers of this world but instead self-proclaimed "locals". Jesus says in Haggai 1:4-11 4"Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses while this house remains a ruin? 5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: Give careful thought to your ways." We drink but dont get our fill, eat but never have enough, put on clothes but are never warm and earn wages only to put them in a pocket with holes. Here's the best part in verse 9 Jesus answers our why, "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house". God does not care how much money we have, how big our house is, how much food or drink or clothes we have, Why? Because none of that matters if we're neglecting HIS HOUSE! Instead of building another house let them stay with you. Instead of earning more money give more away. Instead of spending time building up our "house" build up God's Kingdom! Stop asking why, we already know the answer, BECAUSE HE SAID SO!