(01-21-22)– Spiritual Hindrances! –Proverbs 3:9-10)
My friend, may I ask you a question? When it comes to gifting our time and talent to God, is there ever the question that our investment is both wise and worry-free?
My friend, Life’s a story, welcome to This Passing Day.
I'm M. Clifford Brunner.
I recently heard about a guy who, after having gone through a nasty divorce, had a big change of luck. Within weeks of his divorce he had the good fortune of meeting a wonderful, young lady ten years his junior. He fell in love. On her birthday he decided to buy a bunch of lottery tickets and give them to her. And, to their surprise, she won the lottery and $3 million–what a change of luck, or so it would seem. As it turned out, after the government had gouged him for their fair share, the story made the papers and his ex-wife discovered he was now worth a substantial amount of money. She capped his declining luck by upping the ante on his alimony payments, a nasty surprise.
Sometimes a gift can lead to unexpected outcomes and unanticipated loss. But, when it comes to gifting our time and talent to God, is there ever the question that our investment is both wise and worry-free?
Here's a story. There was a young boy who lived with his elderly grandmother in a small town. Every Sunday the grand- mother would take the boy to Church and after they would go downtown and get an ice cream cone. On one particular Sunday, grandmother was not feeling well. She told the boy that he would have to go to church by himself today and she gave him two nickels, one for the offering plate and one for an ice cream. Now as it happened the boy needed to cross an old wooden bridge in order to get to church. As he was crossing, he was watching the river below, skipping, hopping and generally not paying attention. All of a sudden he dropped one of the nickels. It fell through a crack and into the river below. The boy put his eye to the crack and watched helplessly as the nickel disappeared. As he got up and put the other nickel in his pocket he said, to no one in particular, oh well, there goes God's nickel. (Author unknown. If anyone has a proprietary interest in this story please authenticate and I will be happy to credit, or remove, as the circumstances dictate.)
You and I are preoccupied with much in this life but nothing more so than making a living. We work hard for the money we earn and that's why we put so much emphasis on keeping what we earn. What would we do without income? If only we'd put that kind of effort into setting aside our time and treasures for God. Unfortunately, God often only receives what we happen to have leftover after we've already used what we have on "other" things. In a sense God gets the leftovers and never the main meal, the hand-me-downs and never the new. The real shame, however, is this. As we give to God He has promised to return to us in blessings beyond that which we give. Next time, when there's but one of life's nickels left, try investing it with God. The outcome will be a blessing and the investment free of those unwanted, nasty surprises.
We pray. Heavenly Father, You often only receives what we happen to have leftover after we've already used what we have on "other" things. Forgive us Lord when we put you in second place in our lives. In a sense Do we give you the leftovers and never the main meal, the hand-me-downs and never the new? The real shame, however, is this. As we give to You You have promised to return to us in blessings beyond that which we give. Next time, when there's but one of life's nickels left, help his to try investing it with You. The outcome will be a blessing and the investment free of those unwanted, nasty surprises. In Jesus name we pray. Amen!
Therefore my friend, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry for itself; each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt 6:34) This Passing Day. May this passing day honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be a blessing to you and everyone you meet. Find a stranger and say hello. Don't let another day pass without your day blessing someone else.
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<thispassingday@gmail.com> From Beech Springs, God bless you for Jesus sake.