Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasure in heaven...for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21
From Rev. Phyllis Bowers, Executive Director United Methodist Stewardship Foundation — This month I asked Rev. G. Edwin Zeiders to share a reflection. I am grateful for his wisdom; this is what he wrote:
Anticipating God’s preferred future
One of my friends talked enthusiastically about glimpsing God’s preferred future for the United Methodist Church. Looking into the future is usually reserved for prophets or prognosticators, but Christians in particular, like my friend, benefit from a keen sense of urgency about things yet to be.Facing the future personally, and in our families, is not much different. Living into God’s preferred future is a meaningful manifestation of Christian discipleship no matter our age or perspective. We live with certainty that God is with us. We have assurance that we are not abandoned and confidence that leading lives “worthy of the gospel” fulfills God’s vision for us.
But a necessary part are those periodic glances backward to discern and celebrate the measure of what God has done through us. We may look back with gratitude for all those who have loved and cared for us and rejoice in the ways God has deployed us into the majesty and mystery of God’s own will. A holy retrospective in prayer and humility is a good thing indeed.
Planning for those who follow after us is a substantial way of leaving a legacy that assures a measure of continuity and support for things that have mattered to us. Planning deferred gifts in our estate makes it possible for others to live, labor, pray, and “love the world forward.”
All that God has done yields a life of praise and contemplation. A love well lived is the fulfillment of the prayers of previous generations and their commitment to inspire us. A planned estate gift is not something to fear or shy away from; rather, such a commitment celebrates how God has embraced and deployed us.
We leave a gift because we first received the gifts entrusted to us. Together we live in anticipation of God’s preferred future. Our gifts now, and our gifts left for others are how the transformation of the world actually happens.
