I admit it: I slacked this week on my reading. I got behind on my work, spent too much time goofing around online, and my Bible study felt the brunt of my self-inflicted time crunch. Why do I always do that?

Then last night, I admitted to myself that there was no way I’d be doing five separate posts, but that it shouldn’t stop me from at least reading the material.

And I thought that maybe reading them all at once would help me find the common theme—last week, reading them one at a time, I had no idea during the first few passages what the overall thread was going to be.

Clearly, this theory was somewhat flawed. I read all five passages, and while I saw interesting things here and there, no overarching theme jumped out at me.

Let’s see… Jesus heals some lepers… we’re encouraged to talk to God and focus on good things… a lady named Abigail saves a bunch of people even though her husband is a dope who would have gotten them all killed… there’s a psalm of thanksgiving… and we read a description of the worship of God in heaven.

Fortunately for me, Brian posted a note on Facebook talking about his sermon topic. (Is the true value of social media being able to spy on your pastor’s sermon prep?!?)

In that note, Brian talks about how it’s exciting to be a Christian, especially in times of economic and cultural instability, because we have hope, and not only that, but our job is to share that hope.

By focusing on God (a theme I now realize runs through the readings), we get the perspective and peace that current circumstances might otherwise take from us. Sounds like some good news among everything else you hear!

It makes me think of a verse from one of my favorite bands, Switchfoot:

…He said, “Live like no tomorrow”
Every day we borrow
Brings us one step closer to the end
Infinity
Where’s your treasure?
Who’s your hope?
If you get the world and lose your soul

Only by prioritizing things that matter do we get the “treasure” and “hope” things right. Yes, the economy impacts us. But what if a bad economy is our ticket to being able to offer the real treasure? What if wars (and the backlash against them) help us share God’s peace? What if global poverty is exactly what we need to spur us into some real, meaningful action?