We all crave recognition as humans. We want to be noticed at some level (even the most inconspicuous of us), and when our efforts go overlooked we feel slighted.  Thirteen years into my profession I've learned that I can't allow work to justify my worth. I must fight doggedly against this knowing my weakness is living for the acceptance of others. When I allow work to be my means of self justification I am always lacking. But when my view of work transforms, knowing that I can go at it with all my heart because it is Christ who I am serving, I find freedom. 

The shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and the grand jury's decision not to prosecute the police officer who shot him has sparked an outrage that begs the question - is it justice we prize, or satisfaction?

To have justice there must be fairness. We live in a world that is incredibly unfair since the introduction of sin in Genesis 3. Much can be said about the unfairness of the entire Ferguson situation from both sides. It's unfair that an innocent shop owner was robbed. It's unfair that we have racial prejudice. It's unfair that a police officer felt threatened for his life. It's unfair that a life is now gone.

There isn't a satisfying resolution to this situation. A young black man is dead, and an officer's life is irreversibly altered. A community is in outrage. The Ferguson incident stands as a reminder that we as humans are inevitably flawed.

We want justice, but we know that we won't ever live in an entirely just world. So we seek satisfaction - a substitute for true justice, which will only be had when sin is finally done away with.

Our restlessness needs to be channeled towards faith. Our longing for our Savior's return ought to burn ever more greatly. Come, Lord Jesus!

"He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. "Ecclesiastes 5:10

I usually don't think of myself as overly controlled by money. Yet I get uncomfortable when I compare myself against my peers, having subtly bought into the assumption that earnings speak worth and value. To make myself feel better, I chalk it up to the fact that I'm a teacher, which is the equivalent to humanitarian or charity work - practical sainthood, of course.

So maybe I do have a bit of a problem. As much as I say that I'm free from the love of money, I can't help but be obsessed by it at times, in a way that no pay raise ever seems to quench. Scripture is wise to often speak to us using monetary terms, because it is something we all deal with, whether rich or poor.

Perhaps, then, it is for this reason that a statement like this takes on such great significance:

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich." 2 Corinthians 8:9