Greedy

“The time in life when your children trust you without hesitation, when they are willing to ask you anything, share with you anything, is the time of life most laden with the good stuff. It's the time you have to make the most of, to be most greedy for.”

As I read these words, written by author and magazine editor Stephen Perrine, I was struck by his language and the overwhelming truth of his words.

Be “greedy for” the “good stuff,” he said. Greedy, in this case, for that time in our children’s lives when they are still young and innocent – when they lean fully into the parental relationship, trusting and dependent upon our care.

Can a Christian be greedy….for anything?

His words struck home with me because they speak so directly to the moment of parenting space my life occupies right now. Those inevitable days have not yet come when my children will look at me with expressions that fail to hide their true feelings about my hopeless lack of cool.

Right now -- today – they still greet me at the door with excitement and shouts of “Daddy’s Home!” and I have to admit, those moments are part of what “the good stuff” is made of.

Can a Christian be greedy…absolutely.

I am greedy for all of the ways that I can lay a deep foundation of relationship with my boys while the concrete is still wet. I am greedy for the trust that can be banked with high interest in these tender years because one day the “market” might surely crash.

I’m pretty sure that they’re not going to skip from age 12 to 25 -- the age when most of us regain some sense of sanity – and ironically, when our parents’ IQ’s go back up dramatically in our own estimations.

But I’m not willing to give up hope on that time of life, either. In all honesty, I’m greedy for what is to come, and greedy for all the blessings of this life that God has given me already.

Faith compels me to believe that no matter what changes I may face in my life, there is one eternal truth that will not change: God is greedy for us.

Even though our faith does not stay new and supple forever, God is greedy for every second of relationship that we will give him. Even though we will become cynical, spiritual adolescents at times in our lives, rolling our collective eyes at God, he still longs for all of his children.

No matter how much “cool” I think God lacks, God still waits for me. When I think I have all the answers myself, God still works to help me find the answers I really need.

And so, I think that I’m unabashedly greedy. I’m greedy for my kids, my wife, my friends, my church, and sometimes, hopefully more and more, I remember to be greedy for God.

Greedy means priority. If greedy means ordering our lives in such a way that those things that we say matter most actually receive the lion’s share of our energy and attention, then greedy is a good thing.

So many things in this world want our attention. The truth is that there’s only so much attention to go around.

What are you greedy for?

Psalm 103 tells us:

¹¹For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him;
¹²as far as the east is from the west,
so far he removes our transgressions from us.
¹³As a father has compassion for his children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
¹⁴For he knows how we were made;
he remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵As for mortals, their days are like grass;
they flourish like a flower of the field;
¹⁶for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
¹⁷But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting.

God’s goodness knows no ends. Neither does his greed for us, his children. May we be greedy for the good stuff. The trust we bank today – with our children…and Our Father, might just last a lifetime.

Stephen Perrine’s article concludes, “I hope that she [his daughter, now 14] takes the gambles that she needs to, in the smartest, safest ways. And I hope that she, along with her boisterous little sister, will remember that, no matter what choices she makes, there's at least one man she can always count on.”

May we have the right priorities, the right sense of God’s direction and presence in our lives, and may we always count on the Father whose love never fails. Be greedy…in a good way.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

LIFE AT SOTH:

New Members! Welcome to two new families that joined our church this past Sunday: Tony, Monica, Cameron and Devon Ellis-Witt and David and Diane Vaughn. We are so blessed to count these and all the families who have joined so far this month among our number.

Ready? Turn it Over. The “Turn it Over” campaign will soon hit our community as we direct mail 5,000 of our closest friends and neighbors, inviting them to “Turn Over a New Leaf” at Shepherd of the Hills in 2006. Look for the mail piece coming soon, as well as new roadside banners about our worship services. Now is a great time to invite your friends to come out and experience this new worship series at SOTH, beginning this Sunday. We’ll look at all the ways that God invites us to start fresh in Christ over each of the next 7 Sundays. Our series will culminate with a special celebration on March 5.

Thursday Night Book Study: In conjunction with our new start theme, we’ll study the book Seismic Shifts for 6 Thursday nights, beginning February 2^nd. 7:00 pm each Thursday night, in the worship space. Books are available through the church office (order forms will be on your table this Sunday) for $10 each.

Tonight --- Don’t forget that our fellowship meal happens tonight, 6:30 with a short presentation to follow about Holly and Adam’s “Wesley History” trip to England. We’ll see you there!