Bread Crumbs – Devotions for Life

Prosperity knits a man to the World. 

He feels that he is ‘finding his place in it’, 

while really it is finding its place in him. (1)

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Prosperity does not have to ruin a person, but it frequently does.

Christians are called by God to be in the world, but not of the world.  The issue is neither our prosperity nor our poverty.  The issue is whether we absorb the world or transform the world.

C. S. Lewis is correct in noting that when most of us become prosperous, we absorb the world, her ways, values, desires, and choices.  We do this because we feel the world has done us well, while forgetting that God does us better.

Paul’s exhortation is: 

“Do not be conformed to the ways of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind (in Christ)!”  (Romans 12:2)

To be conformed is to let the world’s pressure mold you into her way.  

To be a transformer is to put pressure on the world to change to God’s way.

Conformity is the path of least resistance to worldly success.  Do it the world’s way.  Be popular.  Sacrifice your integrity.  Give a little here, yield a little there and before you know it you have made it from the mailroom to the penthouse. 

Conform and remain an insider for life.  Be a transformer and remain vulnerable to being cast out and rejected.  

Lose your way or make your way.  This is a reality within the world and within God’s Kingdom.  Thus, the issue is:

Where do you wish to lose your way?

Where do you wish to make your way?

When you reach the fork in the road, you cannot take both paths.  You cannot take the well-traveled road and the less traveled road.  You cannot take the easy wide road and the narrow hill climbing path.  

Whether you lose your way or know exactly where you are, you are on the road you choose.

Pick your paths carefully because the path will transform you.

Jesus said, “I am The Way!” (John 14:6)

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1. Lewis, C. S. (2009-03-17). A Year with C. S. Lewis (p. 121). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.