Saturday, October 01, 2011

Prudence

Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:20).

There is a saying that goes: “he who hesitates is lost.” Yet it is more likely that you will get yourself into trouble if you act before thinking things through. Peter serves as a classic example.

Peter frequently acted without considering the consequences. This is nowhere more evident than on the night of Jesus’ arrest. It started in the Garden of Gethsemane; when Jesus was detained, Peter took his sword and attacked a servant of the high priest. Only one other disciple had a sword; did Peter think that the two of them could defeat the entire crowd that had come for Jesus? Jesus quickly defused Peter’s catastrophic mistake by healing the injured man. Realizing that he had done something very foolish, Peter fled into the night, abandoning Jesus to the crowd. However, guilt soon drove him to the place where the Lord was on trial. Again, Peter acted without thinking things through—he entered the courtyard, hoping he would not be recognized and arrested. Of course, this hasty decision was just as bad as his impulse to fight in the garden; Peter was soon confronted about his relationship with the man on trial. Caught unprepared, Peter panicked and denied knowing Jesus, a denial that cost him his position as a disciple. Because he was so wrapped up in the heat of the moment that he didn’t think about the future, Peter turned his back on Jesus at the time our Lord needed his support the most.

Our world needs more prudence and less unthinking wastefulness. The citizens of our country are growing fatter as they eat whatever strikes their fancy, with little thought to moderation or good nutrition. People smoke, drink and use drugs without consideration of the damage these substances can do to their bodies. Our nation has embraced disposable things—disposable tableware, disposable diapers, disposable containers for water, soft drinks and beer. Few people fix things like kitchen appliances or CD players or vacuum cleaners when they break; such things are simply thrown away and replaced with something new. And gambling has become an obsession for many, even though the only consistent winners are those who offer the games.

Where is the prudence? How many people save adequately for retirement? How many think of money as a limited resource that needs careful management? How many young people make career plans before selecting their first college classes? How many couples discuss their long-term goals before deciding to get married? How many people consider the possible repercussions of an act before going ahead and doing it?

Our Lord always thinks ahead. He is never caught off guard or unprepared. When Adam and Eve brought sin and death into the world, our heavenly Father had a plan ready to fix what they had broken. There in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were the first to hear about a Savior who would destroy the power of evil and bring sinful mankind back to its holy Creator.

But God thinks in the long term. Thousands of years would pass before Jesus was born among us to suffer and die. And two millennia have gone by since Jesus rose from the dead and returned to heaven; no one knows how much longer it will be before He returns to raise the dead and restore this world to perfection.

God wants us to think in the long term as well. He wants us to focus less on today and more on eternity. When we take the long view, it can drastically change the decisions we make here and now. Take an athlete, for example; few people like strenuous exercise, but by focusing on the future competition she hopes to win, the athlete finds the motivation she needs to keep at her training. Or consider a farmer plowing a field; if he spends most of his time gazing at the ground just a few feet ahead or keeps looking down to fiddle with his radio, the path he cultivates will be irregular and hard to plant. But if he keeps his eyes focused on a fence post at the far edge of the field, he can use that guide to plow a furrow that is straight.

Wastefulness comes from overindulgence—not knowing when enough is enough. If one chocolate bar is good, two are better; if one beer is good, three are better. If sex with one person is good, having sex with many different partners is better. If a couple of hours playing poker with friends is fun, a weekend gambling at a casino will certainly be even better. But thinking like this does not consider the future—the problems caused by weight gain, the loss of being able to experience true intimacy with a marital partner, or the difficulty of facing retirement without enough money saved or invested. Overindulgence makes it hard to think seriously about the future.

Jesus addressed the problem of wastefulness in the parable of the Prodigal Son. In His story, Jesus describes a family of three—a father and his two grown sons. The younger man is bored with life working at home for his father. So he makes an insulting request—he wants his share of the inheritance now before his father has died! Surprisingly, the father grants his son’s request and the boy is instantly well off. With money burning a hole in his pocket, he sets off to have fun—but he goes to a distant land so that no one who knows him will see what he’s doing and criticize him. He spends his inheritance on partying and prostitutes with no thought for tomorrow; soon the money is exhausted. Then the economy collapses due to a severe drought; the only employment the young man can find is feeding hogs, hogs that are better fed than he is. It is not until he has hit rock bottom that the wasteful son comes to his senses and returns home to a father who never stopped loving him and was waiting to forgive him. Through this parable, Jesus shows us the importance of thinking about the future before spending money foolishly.

When we take the long view, our lives can be freed from many foolish and hasty decisions. When you are focused on building a house big enough for a growing family, you start putting money into savings instead of spending it impulsively. When heaven is something you think about regularly, you will be more likely to support the church in its work to fill God’s home with forgiven people. When you take the long view, you realize that there is a limit to the time and resources God has given you—so you set priorities to help you in using those heavenly gifts wisely. Taking the long view involves planning; it requires discipline so that you don’t fall into the trap of only living moment to moment. The pleasures of this life never last for long; thankfully there is happiness that never fades away. Jesus offers eternal joy; keep your focus on Him and this gift will be yours.

Joseph is a good example of a man who could plan for the future. Joseph had been falsely accused of rape and thrown into an Egyptian prison. While there, he made several friends—including a member of the royal court, who was doing time in jail for angering Pharaoh the king. God had given Joseph a special ability—he could interpret dreams. This would be Joseph’s ticket out of prison. Pharaoh started having nightmares that no one on his staff could interpret. When the man who knew Joseph was allowed to resume his duties, he recalled Joseph’s ability and put in a good word for him with the king.

Pharaoh had Joseph brought before him and told him about the nightmare. Joseph explained that God was using this means to warn of coming events—seven years of abundant harvests, followed by seven years of devastating famine. Then Joseph suggested a plan—during the seven years of surplus, have someone make sure that 20% of each harvest be put into long-term storage, so that there would be a big enough reserve to get Egypt through the following years of famine. Pharaoh and his staff were so impressed by this suggestion that Joseph was given this important job.

How is Joseph an example of prudence? First of all, he took the long view, rather than waiting until the last minute to face approaching problems. Second, he had discipline—he knew that saving for the future required considerable sacrifice in the here and now.

We live in a dark and evil world. Jesus came among us to drive back the darkness with the light of His love. We help drive back the darkness of evil when we balance the needs of today with planning for the future.

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