Experience less hoarding and more sharing

[I wrote this article at Starbuck, The Curve. With my NLT Bible... :)] 

“Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins” (Mark 12:41-42NLT).

Do you want to know the truth about your stocks, cash, coin and whatever you think you own? They’re not really yours. Imaginarily, it’s yours for you ‘work’ for it (‘You earn it!’ said my ex-boss). But in reality, they’re really not yours. Short-term it’s yours’; long-term and forevermore God’s.

The evangelist John Mark tells a story of a poor widow went to the temple and dropped in two small coins as an offering – and Jesus saw it. She gave everything she had to live on, not to buy bread but to give it back to God. If she lived in the 21^st century, I bet she didn’t read books by self-help financial gurus. I assume she never went to seminars on ‘How to have Financial Breakthrough’ by our local motivational-pastors. Her acts, if ever recorded in You Tube will get hundreds of ‘dislike’ and discourage comments such as: “Stupid woman! No wonder you’re still poor!”… I think most of the people who saw what she did have a similar attitude as such. They would discourage the generosity of the woman… well, only if Jesus wasn’t there.

Jesus, a God-Man teacher who knows everyone’s hearts through-and-through did the opposite. He said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on” (Mark 12:43-44NLT). Jesus used the widow’s action as an example for His disciples to learned Godward-generosity. He teaches them that show-off religion is no generosity at all because it desire men’s applause. He teaches them that giving out of love for God is God-reflect-heart-of-generosity because it shows how much God own us rather than how much money or things owns us.

Max Lucado writes, “God owns everything and gives us all things to enjoy. Let’s move from the fear of scarcity to the comfort of provision.  Experience less hoarding and more sharing.” As followers of Jesus, we are told to be “rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share” (1 Timothy 6:18). Don’t keep what is not yours; save some for you to live by, but give it away as much as you can. Share it.

If you really love God, you'll want to share.THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.