Honor the Lord with your wealth. Proverbs 3:9 (NIV) 

“Lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High.” Luke 6:35

Proverbs chapter three tells “my son” many good things to do. In our verse for today the focus is on wealth and possessions. Wealth -- sounds like a great thing to have. However, there is always the temptation to focus on acquiring and keeping all that wealth for ourselves.  The readers of Proverbs are told to give back to God what He has provided for them, and not just the leftover things. It is the firstfruits of the crops that are to be given to the Lord, through offerings to the priests. The absolute best of what is possessed is what is to be given.

Our focus needs to remain on the Lord and what He has given us. We can use our wealth, which compared to much of the world we really do have, to do God’s work. To support food banks and homeless shelters and affordable housing projects, to give to our church which also does these things. We can support those that currently are anxious or depressed with everything that is happening in our world. And we can do this as a way to honor our God.

Luke writes that we should lend with no thought of getting anything in return. The entire passage includes that we are to do this with our enemies as well as our friends. This sounds really hard to do. How can we possibly just hand over our hard-earned money to “those people?” It helps to remember that all people are created by and loved by God. Jesus says our reward will be great; we will actually be God’s children. Maybe with God’s help we can try to be as Jesus’ example shows us – loving and generous to all, even those we don’t like.

Lord, out of the abundance you give, you only desire our hearts in return. Forgive us for thinking that our things are ours. Help us to set aside our selfishness and honor you with all we have. Help us be generous with our firstfruits instead of just the leftovers.  Open our hearts and our hands, trusting in you to supply our needs. Amen. 

Chris Gabel

 

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