We all remember the mortgage crisis in the 2008-2009 time frame. How did it become a crisis? Well banks usually like it when people borrow money so they can have the interest on the money they are loaning. But what happened during that time, the loan that was once an asset to the bank, became a liability and foreclosures abounded, and banks realized that the property now worth a whole lot less, decreased below the value of the loan. Those assets became known as “toxic assets.” We can also have toxic spiritual assets, those things that once were positive, that have now become toxic, harmful to our spiritual life. For instance, I can buy a car, and have something nice that I consider an asset, but if that asset started taking all my time, especially my time away from God, then it becomes toxic to my spiritual growth. I have moved to a little farm, and I love collecting animals, and they give me joy, but if they start to take my time away from the time I need to have on my spiritual growth, they have become toxic to me. We all have those things that are assets to us, but can easily become toxic to our spirituality if they are allowed to take away the life that we live in Christ. Relationships, which Jesus loves, can be a wonderful asset, but relationships that cause us to move away from fellowship with believers can become toxic. So how are you doing on the assets you enjoy? Are they increasing your joy of the Lord, or becoming toxic to your relationship with the Lord? We are told in Scripture: “For what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world yet lose his life? What can a man give in exchange for his life? For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” Mark 8:36-38 The adversary is cunning when it comes to convincing us that what we have in the world, God will bless. What he doesn’t mention, in the quiet of our minds, is that the world is still adverse to the things of God. They can be assets or they can be toxic. The only difference is their importance to our lives. Enjoy the things you have, there is nothing wrong with that, but don’t be afraid to “lose” it all for the cause of Christ. Don’t be taken by the notion that with God, He wants us to be successful in this world. He wants us to be obedient, and certainly He may make us successful, but that is secondary to the asset we enjoy, known as faith.
Heavenly Father, Lord, please help us to see the treasure we have in You only. Make our treasure here on earth, the very treasure that You have supplied. Help us to not become taken in by the seduction of the world and its pleasures, and to remain faithful to You, for You give joy unlike nothing on earth can. (Pastor Andy Anderson)
Barnabas Man 