Turn The Other Cheek

It's been a wonderful experience to read through the Bible with all (or most) of the Bros and Sisses at church. I'm a little behind, mind you, but nothing a good Sunday afternoon at the Turkey Bowl won't fix. I'll be reading, fellowshipping and woo hooting all at the same time.

In any case, I came across a verse that was quite hard to swallow, so to speak. It's found in Luke Chapter 6:30 and says, ". . . and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back."

Okay, I understand there's much to be said there and it is Jesus telling us to love our enemies--also hard to swallow, but do-able. Well, I happen to read this scripture when my heart was a tad bit angry because of the robbery.

To repeat: A few weeks back (or further) someone broke into our garage and ran off with computer speakers (crazy good ones worth a little bundle of my money I don't have), a $300 Felt bike, garage door opener and a pack of gum.

Apparently, though I thought I was "over it," I got very angry every time I saw a kid on a bike. Made for very unhappy days. It was also my son's means of transportation which now I have become again. That, of course, I do gladly (most of the time). Point is, I wasn't over it and I held on pretty tight to our earthly possessions. I failed to see that we were not harmed while we lay sleeping and so forth.

So this verse, "and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back," helped me to let go. I guess that when He said, "to whom much is given, much is required," has nothing to do with material things. That's the way I see it. This learning curve is tough.