WEEKEND RECHARGE!

April 5, 2026

Monday, March 30—Exodus 20:17 Commandment #10
Tuesday, March 31—Exodus 32-33 Golden Calf
Wednesday, April 1—Numbers 13-14 Giants
Thursday, April 2—Deuteronomy 34 Moses Part 1
Friday, April 3—Deuteronomy 34 Moses Part 2 

*Following the reflective questions, be sure to check out the summary of Leo Tolstoy’s How Much Land Does a Man Need? It is a powerful reminder that all we really need is Jesus. 

Below are some reflective questions. I encourage you to prayerfully read each one and choose one or two to focus on.  

1. PRAY: Ask God to open your heart so you can hear him speak to you about the issue.
2. RESPOND: Confession. Repentance. Surrender. Thanksgiving. 
3. ACT: Take the steps to do what God is calling you to do.

Reflective Questions

1. Where do you most often struggle with coveting—possessions, relationships, or position—and why?
   
   
2. What practical steps can you take this week to cultivate contentment in what God has already given you?
   
   
3. Where in your life are you tempted to grow impatient with God’s timing, and how are you responding?
   
   
4. What “golden calves” (modern idols) compete for your worship and attention?
   
   
5. How can you grow as a spiritual leader in your home this week?
   
   
6. How can you intentionally shift your perspective from “grasshopper thinking” to God-centered faith this week?
   
   
7. How is your faith (or fear) affecting those watching your life?
   
   
8. What excuses are you using to avoid what God is calling you to do?
   
   
9. How can you trust more in God’s power rather than your own ability in leadership and daily life?
   
   
10. In what relationships is God calling you to practice humility, patience, and intercession instead of control or distance?

HOW MUCH LAND DOES A MAN NEED?  by Leo Tolstoy

In his story titled “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” Leo Tolstoy tells of a peasant named Pahom who worked hard yet remained poor. Pahom said, “Busy we are from childhood tilling mother earth; we peasants will always die as we are living, with nothing of our own. If only we had our own land, it would be different.”

One day, a landowner was selling her small estate. So Pahom and his wife gathered all their savings, sold some animals, hired one of their sons as a laborer, borrowed money from relatives, and purchased the forty-acre farm. And Pahom was content…for a while.

Soon, he bought a larger farm, but he quickly grew tired of it as well.

One day, a man passing through Pahom’s farm had just returned from a land called the Bashkirs. The man had bought 13,000 acres for 1,000 rubles. Pahom couldn’t resist. He left his farm and family and headed for the Bashkirs.

The land of the Bashkirs was everything Pahom had dreamed of—fertile and abundant. Pahom was told he could have all the land he could walk around in a day.

“It will all be yours,” the chief said, “but there is one condition: if you don’t return on the same day to the spot whence you started, your money will be lost.”

The next morning, the Bashkir chief placed his fur hat to mark the starting point from which Pahom would begin and end his journey. Filled with excitement, he set out and used a spade to dig a hole at each turn to mark the corners of his land.

You can imagine what happened…Pahom wanted more land and tried for too much. Here’s how Tolstoy ends the story:

Oh, dear, Pahom thought, if only I had not blundered in trying for too much! What if I am late? What shall I do? I have grasped too much and ruined the whole affair. I can’t get there before the sun sets.

And this fear made him still more breathless. Pahom went on running, his soaking shirt and trousers stuck to him, and his mouth was parched. His breast was working like a blacksmith’s bellows, his heart was beating like a hammer, and his legs were giving way as if they did not belong to him. Pahom was seized with terror lest he should die of the strain.

Though afraid of death, he could not stop…The sun was about to set.

With all his remaining strength he rushed on, bending his body forward so that his legs could hardly follow fast enough to keep him from falling. Pahom took a long breath and ran up the hill.

He saw the fur hat—the ending point.

Before it sat the chief, laughing and holding his sides. Pahom uttered a cry; his legs gave way beneath him; he fell forward and reached the cap with his hands.

“Ah, that’s a fine fellow,” the chief said. “He has gained much land!”

Pahom’s servant came running up and tried to raise him, but he saw that blood was flowing from his mouth. Pahom was dead! His servant picked up the spade and dug a grave long enough for Pahom to lie in, and buried him in it. Six feet from his head to his heels was all he needed.

How much land does a man need? In the end, just enough to be buried in.

How big a house does a man need? In the end, just the size of a casket.

How much money does a man need in his bank account?
In the end, he will lose all check-writing privileges.

How many friends does a man need?
In the end, just one—and that friend must be Jesus Christ.

In the end, it is Jesus and eternal life in Him that we should covet. We should crave a deep personal relationship with Christ.

So that one day He will say:

Well done! Good and faithful servant! Come and enjoy the kingdom I prepared for you from the foundation of the world!