PBJ and Being Rich

Some of my friends go downtown to give food to the homeless, which consists of a loaf of bread, peanut butter and easy-squeeze jelly. Me and Pat went today and got the same because we decided we would do the same. I felt that if I was going to give this to someone, I personally had to know what it felt like to eat that for a week straight. I also wanted to know what it was like to not being able to buy food.

I'm only sharing this because I'm already realizing what a ridiculous thing all of this is.
We had that PBJ and then I suddenly wanted some Starbucks, I smelled La Madeleine, I wanted some Braum's. I wanted to get something savory. I didn't realize how easy it was for me to just buy whatever I wanted. All of the sudden, I start appreciating the luxury of eating whatever, whenever you want. It's dumb because I've only had one PBJ. I guess the thought of having to eat only that had already started taking over my mind. Then the ridiculousness of it struck me.

I have a car. I have clothes. I can wash them whenever I want. I can take a shower whenever I want, how many times I want. I can brush my teeth. I have a Macbook. My mom still 'forces' breakfast upon me (which I now appreciate). I have a cell phone. And this is all while I'm on my Righteous PBJ Fast. Heck, I'm blogging right now.

You know what's more ridiculous? I think about having sushi, because it seems so great and it's so expensive, I'm stuck eating fast food. The homeless guy 20 minutes from here wishes he could just have what I ate at Braum's because it's a warm meal and it's so expensive for him, but he's stuck eating PBJ everyday. The average kid in the outskirts of Sudan doesn't even know what PBJ tastes like, much less anything clean, he's stuck eating rations. The rest of the world, they just don't even know when they'll eat next.

WE ARE SO RICH. If you are reading this- YOU ARE RICH. I always say how poor I am and how I have to go coupon clip and how I barely have enough money for gas. I'M RICH. This is what rappers must feel like everyday.

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"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." mark10:25

(hahah just to clarify)

a camel can't even fit into the eye of a giant needle. But seriously, Jesus says it like it is and that scares me.

1. Do I realize how rich I actually am?
2. How much do I rely on that?

It's something shocking when you get a tiny taste of how much you have compared to the rest of the world. When I take something away as simple as not being able to buy the type of food I want, it's easy to see how much I relied on that. I'm writhing in suffering as I'm still driving a car, taking showers, hanging out with friends and having clean water everywhere.

So I guess this has many, many parts:

• Being rich on earth is a temporary and ultimately shabby thing. (Proverbs23:4,23:5, 27:24, 28:6, 28:22, Ecclesiastes5:8 and a bajillion more)It's like the the poor not even understanding the wealth that exists on the other side of the world.
• Rich people, be careful. Don't get trapped. The hierarchy is going to flip on you when you die. (James1:10, 1Corinthians4:8, Luke6:24, 8:14, 12:21, James1:11, 2:5-6, 5:1)
  
• 1Timothy6:9
  
• If you're rich: do good, be generous, share , and take no pride in your position. (1Tim6:17-18)

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The point is, we are rich. 
So you've got a whole new can o' worms if you're listening to what Jesus is saying. I know this might sound damning, but that's not my heart at all- it's just a sobering thing for me to realize today, and the urgency of really seeing where my heart is has just shot up to the sky. With so many things we have- is God really everything and worth giving up all you have (Luke 19:1-9), or is He just one of the many activities and gods you give yourself away to? I feel like my life points to the second- and that is killing me. Talk to Jesus. I'll be doing alot of that this week whilst eating that PBJ.