Doug's Doorstep

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Living Below One's Privilege

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Have you ever needed something and were saddened because you didn’t have it? I think most of us have been there some in our lives. At the same time, have we ever needed anything and did not realize we already had it?

I heard a story about a woman in another country who had a son that she loved. She was raising him alone. She took on many different jobs - so she could send him to school - so he could have all the advantages he needed. When he was grown, he

When he was grown, he moved to the United States, went to medical school and became a successful medical doctor. He was living in a large house with nice cars and everything he needed. Meanwhile his mother continued to live in the small shack where she had raised him, and worked jobs to exist.

One day a friend came to see the woman and they began to talk about her son in the U.S. The friend was so upset because while the son had many privileges, his mother was living in poverty. The friend showed her displeasure and said it was just not right that he have all this while his mother didn’t and that he didn’t send her some help.

The boy’s mother said “Oh, he sends me pictures all the time. Wait here and I will show you.” She came back with a shoe box and opened it for her friend to see. When she did, she showed her pictures of presidents of the United States: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland and James Madison. She had a shoe box full of these “pictures.” You and I know these presidents as they are on the currency that we use to purchase the things we need. She had a shoe box full of money and did not realize what it was. She was living below her privilege.

How many of us do the same thing? For instance, we have the opportunity of prayer. We can go to our Father at any time and know that He will be there to hear us. It doesn’t cost us a thing. We cannot do it too much. But do we ignore our God except in the times that we have a dire need? He wants to hear from us all the time.

Then there is the salvation that we have in Jesus. We are saved “...by grace through faith.” (Ephesians 2:8-10) It’s not something we can earn, and yet we are to submit to our God in obedience to His Word. Faith is active, so there is something we must do. See what Peter said to do in Acts 2:38. But some people will be lost because they do not obey Jesus. They have it for the taking but either refuse it or don’t take advantage of what God has offered.

Do not live below your privilege. Follow Jesus every day and submit to Him.