Do you know that the Bible teaches you to judge yourself? Do you think that this applies only to examining your life for sinful behavior? What about the way you view the world; your assumptions about the way things work? Your view of the world is connected to your faith. Did you receive it as a list of doctrinal positions from your church? Have you had to alter any of your positions on these matters as a result of life experience? Do you defend your positions as an extension of your identity or do you continue to subject them to judgment?

Are you secure? Insecurity can come in many forms. You speak of food insecurity for the poor, but the more commonly experienced types in affluent countries are financial and emotional. You know people who secure and insecure in various ways. Is there also a spiritual form of security and insecurity? In the parable of the talents two servants took the talents entrusted to them and put them at risk and as a result increased them. The other servant buried his talent in the earth because he thought I was harsh and unfair. Do you know that I love you?

Have you heard that accident rates go up when drivers talk on cell phones? In many areas this practice has been outlawed for this reason. Yet drivers have been talking to passengers in their cars for as long as cars have been around and this does not appear to cause a problem. What is the difference? A cell phone conversation is different from one in person because it lacks a sense of immediate presence, and this makes a real difference. Can you think of other areas in which presence is important? You do not see me, but can you sense my presence? Are you aware that I am always with you?

Are you looking for something glorious and magnificent? My early followers were. They would have been happy with a conquering king to deliver them from occupation and oppression. Do you think that some were disappointed with my teachings about lilies and sheep and coins and birds? Are you? Many of my messages I closed with the words, he who has eyes to see, let him see, or he who has ears to hear, let him hear. My audience was hungry for the Kingdom of God, and my message was that the Kingdom of God is all around you in everyday life if you have eyes to see and ears to hear. Do you?