Day 23 – Monday
Mark 10:17-31 (parallels: Matthew 19:16-30; Luke 18:18-30)
God of all things, we are so
enamored of wealth, so enmeshed in idolatry related to it, and so inclined to
give preference to those who are wealthy, that we are shocked that Jesus tells
someone to divest of all his wealth and give the proceeds to the poor in order
to follow Jesus as a disciple.
We have been conditioned to
believe that the wealthy are most blessed and that they’ve earned their own
way. We don’t want to see the ways that many of them have undermined the
communities in which they live by withdrawing and hoarding the communities’
wealth or by trampling on the lives of their neighbors.
We don’t, in fact, want to see
our own wealth. We don’t want to admit our competitive hoarding and acknowledge
the damage it does to our neighbors and neighborhoods, to our very selves and
the planet.
We are so slow to realize that
participation in the community life of your followers makes us beneficiaries of
all the resources for sharing that You have bequeathed to scattered communities
that are one in Christ.
Enable us to divest as You
direct us. Enable us to share, with joy, the abundance You provide. Help us to
see that as we follow Christ closely, we are blessed beyond comprehension and
competition. Amen.
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