Loving God And Others
As a young school teacher in rural Montana, I rented a house from a local rancher. In the front yard was a pond with large rainbow trout, and in the back yard was Ross Fork creek bottom, filled with Brooke Trout, pheasant, duck, whitetail and mule deer. This was the rancher's 'second' place, and consisted of 1,100 acres of mostly wheat and barley. He told me that he was going to sell the place (for more than forty years of my salary.) I said, "Ok, I'll take it. But I'm going to have to pay you $100 a month."
Believe me, that was good for a laugh. Of course, I would have purchased it in a heartbeat if I could have. Many good things in life will always be beyond our reach. It is good for us to remember that Jesus warned us about the emptiness of pursuing wealth in this life. It is truly no different than the child who collects a mountain of toys on the playground and keeps them all to himself. Why is that so ridiculous? Because it's a TEMPORARY treasure! At the end of recess, it all comes to nothing!
There is certainly nothing wrong with good things in life, as long as we don't allow our hearts to get tangled up in them. Jesus said that instead of that, we should store up treasure in heaven! How? By pointing people to Jesus. By loving them. By being kind and generous and thoughtful and forgiving. When you truly make the shift- when you truly make today about loving God and others- you will be blessed! -Pastor Brad
Brook Trout from my Montana back yard
Written on September 30, 2026
Posted in Daily Devotions