Weekend Speaker: Ben Sigman
Theme: Not Afraid - Fear of Not Having Enough
Read: Luke 12:32-34
Think: I saw a British movie a number of years ago (the name of which I can’t quite remember…) but it was a story about two brothers who find a sack full of money. The owner can’t be found so they have to decide what to do with it. The younger brother wants to use it to help the poor, while the older one sees it as his ticket to get status he’d always wanted and the good life. What happens in the rest of the movie poignantly contrasts the freedom of a generous spirit with the frustration of a grasping hand.
I once read a teaching from Genesis where the author said basically that our hands have been clenched since the fall of mankind. Meaning that once sin entered the world our desire has been to selfishly grab and hold onto our stuff and whatever else we can get. But as Pastor Ben helped us see from his weekend message is that Jesus’ teachings about faith and generosity leave us with only one choice - to deliberately pry those clenched hands open.
Jesus said, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “ (Luke 12:32-34).
These words of Jesus are pretty radical – but His point is clear. So as we struggle to figure out how to put them into practice, we have to honestly seek His will, and then obey. He will guide our steps and guard our hearts from worry and give us freedom we’ve never known!
By the way, I sort of think that the generous boy from the movie probably had open hands long before all that money ever fell into them.
Do: It’s ruthless evaluation time… Look at your hands. Are they grasping and clenching to hold onto what you have, what you‘ve earned, what you value? Or are they open – to receive God’s blessing and to just as readily pass it on to another?
Pray: God, you are the giver of all good things. Give me a generous heart like yours… Show me how to respond as you direct me and to bless others with what you have so graciously given to me. When I’m tempted to be selfish or to hold on tightly to what I have, gently pry my hands open Lord, that I might be open to give and to receive. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.
The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.