Inside Job

Romans 2:29
“But a Jew is one inwardly,
and circumcision is a matter of the
heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.
 His praise is not from man but from God.”
ESV

              September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers filed the world’s largest bankruptcy.  Bigger than General Motors, Washington Mutual, Enron, and WorldCom combined.  This 619 billion dollar fail is still felt today.

              They pulled a “Repo 105” by refinancing fifty billion dollars a month and labeling it a ‘sale’, which would make the reports look rosy when in all actuality they were horrendous.  This would create a smokescreen to Government financial regulators from being warned and would also encourage investors to keep pouring money in.  Everybody lost except a handful of CEOs’ at the top of the organization that are now living fat and happy at the world’s expense. 

But speaking of bankruptcy, in spiritual terms, our own ability to be spiritual makes Lehman Brothers look like a great investment portfolio.  For example, our hearts are so desperately hungry for security and significance, that without Christ, we’ll do anything to fill that void.  We can’t build a fence high enough to keep from wandering into sin and our flesh is like the most corrupt CEO ever. 

              Our mind is supposed to be an informed ‘Regulator’.  God designed it to say, “Hold up, don’t spiritually invest in that!  Don’t waste your life on sin.”  Our heart is the ‘Investor’.  It tells the body where to put its energy.  But that’s what’s bankrupt: the heart and mind of man without Christ.  That’s why we need God to do an inside job on our heart and mind. 

              It was an inside job that crippled this country’s economy for a season.  But on the flipside, it has to be an inside job by the Holy Spirit to get our heart and mind’s budget balanced.  Only God can satisfy the mind and hearts need for security and significance.  

By Aaron F. Jeffers

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