Jesus talks about… Life in Balance
Luke 12:16-21, Matthew 6:33, Matthew 7:24:27
June 9, 2019
Intro: Are you all familiar with the term “Life Coach”? It is a relatively new term that is still gaining momentum. Look it up on the internet. There are so many and about as many adds wanting to hire life coaches. You can even go to school and learn to be a life coach. As I understand them, they are really mentors. But how cool is it when you are out with friends or gathering at the beauty salon or barber shop to say I have a “Life Coach”. As long as you are getting your life together people will be impressed.
The big problem that I see is this. If you don’t have a good foundation the life coaching won’t amount to much. You may know how to solve some small problems; it may help you be a somewhat better friend and may even help you find another job. In reality you were able to so most of that already. Foundation is so important. What are you going to build your new you upon? Trying harder? Being Smarter? Knowing more that the next person? Being more positive? Balancing life on a poor foundation gives us an uneasy feeling right before we fail.
Having life in Balance is the better way to go. It starts with a great foundation. It is built on the One who created and holds the world together. A life in balance has…
One Foundation
Jesus says a wise man who wants to build a house will not build a house on just any ground. He will make sure that the place he lays the foundation will support the build.
In Matthew 7, Jesus is just about to finish up the sermon on the mount. He was by a body of water as He was sitting on a hillside. He may have gestured toward the beach or even to a nice flat piece of ground below the hill.
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.” Matthew 7:24-27
Did you hear Jesus say where a wise man will build a house? He will build it on land that will be able to support the house regardless of the weather. He won’t build on sand; He won’t build in a flat gully. He knows that when the tide rises, the rains fall or the winds blow his house is on a foundation that can handle all of that which will come against it.
Life is like that. There will be things that will attack us. It can be a health crisis, financial disasters, weather disaster, family crisis or a relationship train wreck. When they come, will that which you have been counting on, keep you from complete disaster?
A wise man doesn’t say well I have health, home and auto insurance. He won’t say I have a great counselor and a great lawyer. He won’t say my emergency fund and my 401K will take care of my financial needs. He will sing “He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock and covers me there with His hand” or “My soul has found a resting place.” Maybe “It is well with my soul”. He/she might even sing, “On Christ the solid rock, I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”
The wise man has one sure foundation – Jesus Christ our Lord. He created the world and all that is in it. He gave it to us. He gave us all we need for life and abundance. There can be no “Life Balance without a life built on the foundation of Jesus Christ. A life in balance will…
Invest in Eternity
Can anyone tell me how long eternity is? So, even if we live to be 100 years old, that is only a drop in the bucket to eternity. If we are going to have a Life in Balance we must invest in eternity.
16 And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. 17 And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ 21 So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16-21
This farmer invested in his temporary farm. He did become very successful at farming. He did the worldly-wise thing and built bigger barns so he could become even more successful. That is the American dream. It is probably the Brazilian Dream and Australian Dream and many other people’s dream.
Jesus said this man died before he was ready. Which is the way most of us will die. God asked him who was going to take of his land, crops and barns since he was dead. To which I think the man said, “I don’t know now that I am dead.” God said, ‘You are a fool! This very night your soul is required of you;
This man had a great business and retirement plan but not a good plan for eternity. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. This man should have taken some time to consider where he would spend eternity. Did he think that he ran the world? He made a few crops grow but he did not make all of the crops for his community grow. He should have realized he “wasn’t all that” and tried to find out who was. A person who does not invest in the future is the person who has not made preparation for eternity with God. And an eternity without God is spent in hell.
Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is at hand repent.” Jesus said, I have come not to judge for your sin has already decided where we will spend eternity. I came to get in the way of the sin sentence in your life.
Let worship, Bible study, commitment, service be that which we use to invest in eternity. When we invest in eternity, we still get to enjoy the best of this life. This investment will ensure that we also enjoy the best of eternity with God. If we only invest in this life, this is the only joy we will have for the rest of eternity. Those few hours in June of 2019 won’t even be a blip compared to eternity.
Daily Trust
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33
You wouldn’t think that trust is found in this verse but it is. Jesus calls us to seek His Kingdom and be clothed in His righteousness and then as we trust we see God meet the needs in our life.
This passage is a part of a larger section on freedom from worry that comes from trusting in the relationship with Jesus that we are seeking. Jesus tells us not to worry about our future, what we will eat, what we will drink, what we will wear.
John MacArthur says, “For some reason, we think of doubt and worry as “small sins”. But when a Christian displays unbelief… or an inability to cope with life, he is saying to the world. “My God cannot be trusted,” and that kind of disrespect makes one guilty of a fundamental error, the heinous sin of dishonoring God. That is no small sin!”
Completely trusting Jesus brings life in balance. It gets us off of the treadmill of life and on the pathway with Jesus.
Jesus says, the pagans(unbelievers) chase after food, clothing, security, meaning, notoriety, significance but He reminds us that God knows what we need. We have to learn to trust Him to meet our need. Unless we seek Him and know Him, we cannot have a life in balance. There is really only one way to live in this balance.
Abide in Jesus
To so many achieving balance in life is making Jesus one of many things that will fulfill our life. Jesus is not one of many He is the center of everything.
Picture a wheel with six spokes. The tire around those spokes is your life. The spokes are things that balance out your life. Life coaches who help individuals achieve balance in life, encourage people to work on these 6 areas. Some coaches use different words but they still come down to these 6. If you follow this approach this is how you do it…
Spiritual – think nice thoughts, meditate on nice thoughts etc. think about God if you believe there is one.
Physical – take care of your body – it will take care of you
Mental – take of your mental health, go to counseling, Tell yourself how good you are.
Financial – save, save, save, work hard, have a budget – of course help others with some of your money. This is most like a god of any because it feeds all other areas.
Emotional – Make sure you have enough “me time”, keep toxic people out of your life, don’t think toxic thoughts. Serenity now.
Social – have lots of friends, go out with friends, make friends at work, have a big enough house to have those friends over.
There you go. No need to hire that Life Coach you were thinking about.
Balance in life will not allow Jesus to be one of many aspects of his or her life. Jesus will be THE foundation that all other aspects are achieved.
Try this plan built on Jesus Christ our one and only foundation.
I will have a healthy body or not. I will not worship my body. I will not let it be the focus of my life. I will take my health seriously. I will exercise, eat, sleep in such a way that my body can facilitate those things God wants me to do. I don’t want poor care of my body to hinder me from doing what God has gifted me to do. I live as if I have been bought with a price and belong to Jesus. Because that is the truth of God’s Word.
God blesses me with many friends. Some are Christian and some are not. I will develop friendships with Christians who can be encouragers, a sounding board, a listening ear, ministry partner. I will make friends at work, in my neighborhood and within my family. I will care for them, pray for them and share Christ with them and encourage them to follow Jesus. I will not forsake the gathering together with fellow believers.
Financially I will trust God with all I have. I will worship Jesus with my tithes and I will trust Him with all other money I have. I will be wise in my savings, though I will trust God to provide for my needs. I will rest at all times knowing the God will meet my need and not my financial advisor. I will trust God to bless others through that which He has blessed me with.
I will foster my emotional and mental health knowing how to be a good friend. I will follow the teachings of Christ so that He can guide me to avoid addictions, lusts, unhealthy relationships. I will be open to counseling when I need it or if a friend notices that I am struggling with my emotions and mental health. Worry, fear, anxiety, are not the fruit of a person who is seeking Jesus in all they do. We may experience these things but in Christ they do not cripple us.
In short abide in Jesus!
8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9 Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. John 15:8-11
A life in balance demonstrates what abiding in Christ looks like.
Challenge:
Life in Balance is ours if we have One Foundation, Invest in Eternity, Daily Trust and Abide in Jesus. It starts with a simple “YES” I will follow Jesus. No huge extravaganza. No long drawn out pledge. Jesus says, “Let your yes be yes.” I want my life in balance and I will seek Jesus first and always. He will lead me to align my life on things that Jesus wants for my life.
Peace, contentment, perseverance and a growing faith will be the result of a life in balance. Is that what you want?
Use this bulletin or your prayer journal and begin in prayer to sit down with Jesus and begin to align your activity, budget, health and social life with God’s Word and His promises to you. You won’t need Denise Richards, Doctor Oz, Suze Orman, Facebook or even Marie Kondo to balance your life. Any wisdom that have is from God and some of what they say is helpful but not until Jesus gives us a Life in Balance.