Fifteen is an interesting age - often a time of self-awareness, self-concern, and self-preservation. Recently, our 15-year-old son seems to have extra money for movies and junk food. I wasn't sure why until we took our summer vacation. We roamed through beautiful, sunny San Diego, walked all over incredibly fun-filled Anaheim, and then ended our trip with an inspiring visit to Sovereign Grace Church in downtown Los Angeles and walked through Little Tokyo, with its amazingly foreign sights and tastes and sounds. What was our son doing? During all of our treks through these fascinating travels, he kept his head looking down, searching gutters and grass lines and cracks in pavement for pennies and nickels or, by chance, a quarter! I inquired about it, and he proudly stated that over the last several months, by looking down, he'd collected "like $30.00" that other people just "miss" as they walk. Thirty dollars? While missing the incredible wealth of life above the gutter on vacation?
Don't we all do that sometimes? We forget what constitutes the wealth of life, and who owns it. We so often keep our nose to the grindstone and push the dirt with more force, only to accomplish a little reorganization of the dirt. We abandon our Sabbath rest, take worry on as our companion, and believe that working harder on our own will be so much more productive than waiting on the Almighty God. Haggai 1:5-6 warns us: "Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." Could Haggai have been any clearer? Watch out! When we lose sight of the Lord as Provider, we not only miss the big picture by relying on our own, small efforts to gather and store. We also watch the pennies and nickels we gather fall through holes!
The joy of stewardship is in the devotion to the One who holds everything of worth in His hand. He has taught us to give everything for the "pearl of great price." Jesus instructed:"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." (Mark 8:34-35) If we take up our cross to follow Christ and give Him all of all that we have, out of our love for Him (Mark 12:28-30), we will please God and receive his blessings for all eternity. Therefore, in God's economy, when we give to the point of personal sacrifice, we are really not sacrificing at all. We gain!
In the economic times we face, we followers of Christ can know with certainty that we can trust the Lord to provide. And when we give in tithes and offerings as God wants us to give - abundantly -- that obedient act increases our focus on the Lord and His might. It's an honor to serve our wealthy God by giving faithfully of what we have, rather than holding on to every penny.
Have you been looking down in the gutter lately, desperately focusing on the search for spare change? Let's examine ourselves and our possessions through the Lord's eyes. Why do we hesitate to give, or fear that we are about to give away too much? The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains, and He is Jehovah Jireh, our Provider. (Gen. 22:14) Amen!
Karen Sloat, CCCC Treasurer