What's in the bag?

Based on Deuteronomy 25-27, Mark 14:27-53

"Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small. But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."
Deuteronomy 25:13‭-‬15.

What are you carrying? Have you felt un-balanced lately? We are all attached to certain things in life, but do these things make our lives more valuable? God is the only one that brings value to our lives! He creates life! He provides! He makes whole! He brings balance to the weighed-down soul!

Just think about it...you're trying to walk into work carrying a coffee & phone in one hand, and your favorite gum & an iPad in the other, plus a bag with a bunch of random stuff in it (plus a laptop). Oh, and a really cool looking calendar notebook you just bought is being carried under your arm...makes it hard to pull the door open at work, right? And the mask makes it hard to ask for help!

We probably don't need half those things! Just like it's hard to do our own jobs when we pile on un-needed items and unnecessary stress, it's also hard to do the work of The Lord! What's stopping us? What's clouding up our mind & cluttering up our soul? What's occupying our priority list? What's in our bag!? How about a balanced basket of firstfruits instead:

"That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there." Deuteronomy 26:2.

"And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O Lord, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God: And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you." Deuteronomy 26:10‭-‬11.

We can worship God as we bring Him our best! Talk to God & pray away all the unnecessary distractions. Simplify your life prioritizing Jesus! He will help us keep a balanced basket of goods which He is pleased with as we give Him our first, not our last. He will keep our lives in order! Also, when we give to God, we can also share with others from our balanced basket:

"Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them:" Deuteronomy 26:13.

"38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak." Mark 14:38.

Let's make prayer a priority! It's the only way to manage and eliminate the many things weighing us down. Give God your best; don't worry about the rest!