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October 2, 2007
Short Stories on Stewardship: Giving what you have
This week Jerry Mixon, State Stewardship Director for the Mississippi Baptist Convention, is sharing what he has learned as a pastor and denominational leader on the subjects of stewardship and giving through story.
Today's short story speaks to our willingess to give what we don't have and our unwillingness to give what we do have.
Giving What You Have
Do you remember the story of two country boys talking, and one asked, “Billy Bob, if you had a million dollars, would you give me half of it?” Ole Billy Bob replied, “Lee Roy, you know I would.” So Lee Roy questioned again, “If you had a thousand dollars, would you give me five hundred?” “Lee Roy, we have been friends for over twenty years,” said Billy Bob, “and you know I would give you five hundred dollars if I had a thousand.” Well, Ole Lee Roy scratched his chin and asked, “If you had two hogs, would you give me one?” Billy Bob shouted loudly, “That’s not fair. You know I have two hogs.”
Have you ever heard people say something like that? I have heard many people say if God would let them win the lottery, they would give half of it to the church, spend a lot on helping the poor, and live on the rest. We all need to understand that God never requires of us to give what we do not have. His requirement is that we give to him what we have.
When we give time, talent, and money to God, it is blessed. There is in Malachi 3:8-10 a blessing and a curse. The curse may be the absence of the blessing. When something is blessed, it simply means it has the capacity to do more than it would normally do. So which would you rather have: ten dollars blessed of God because you gave the tithe, or ten dollars without the blessing of God because you did not give the tithe? The real question is: Can ten dollars blessed do more than ten dollars not blessed? The answer is ten dollars not blessed can do only what ten dollars can do in our economy. Ten dollars blessed of God can do what GOD CAN DO. I am not one of those claim-it-and-name-it guys, but I am saying you can claim what God has named. So give what you have and not what you don’t have. Then you can claim God’s blessing.
Posted by bstroup at October 2, 2007 1:24 AM
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