Give unto Thee

My wife and I have been through some fairly difficult struggles the past couple of years that have lead us to “downsize”, and lead much simpler lives when it comes to finances. At the time they were not choices we would have made, if God had allowed us the choice. But He didn’t allow us that choice, and for that we are grateful. What it did for us going through those changes was it made us much more aware of 1. There is a greater joy found in life outside of “things”, and 2. There are many people in this world struggling that need the touch of Christ’s love in their lives.

I was thinking today of a passage of scripture where Jesus spoke of a farmer who had a plentiful crop. The farmer built new storage houses or barns to store his harvest and basically said to himself “I am prepared for life” and decided to take it easy. But God said …You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? (Luke 12:16-21).

It is interesting that Jesus did not say this man gave to the poor, help his local church, or give to the missionaries. So is this farmer’s greatest sin greed? God said in (Matthew 25:31-46) that whenever we give to the poor or people in need we do it in His name, or give unto Him. And yet we can never out-give God, for He even gave His only son.

What does this have anything to do with us as a nation all the way down to us personally? We are probably one of the most prosperous nations in the world, and what have we done with this? Some people say the U.S. gives more than any other nation in the world. But would our country be where it is today if that were true? Our nation was founded on Godly principles, but have we lost all of that due to greed and self-fulfillment?

The middle class is shrinking. The rich are getting richer, and the poor getting poorer. I believe we have lost our way. We need to turn back to God and acknowledge Him. We need to give unto others as Christ would have given, not wanting anything in return (2Corr 9:7-11). We are commanded to do so. Then the Lord will bless us just as He says He will.

So as Becky and I have been going through our own personal challenges we acknowledge that one thing is for sure, even though we have always given, we need to give more. No matter how little we have there are things we know we can count on. We can count on God always using what we give for His Glory, and always providing for our needs. In times like these it is easy for all of us to want to hang on to everything we have. But it is times like these that we should give everything we can.