As we enter into a new year, here is something to remember:
When it's all said and done, we have three things we can offer God—our
treasure, our talent, and our time. Each of these is given to us by God, and
each of them should be given back in generous portions.
First, there is our treasure. I urge you to commit yourself
to give faithfully and generously to the Lord in this coming year. Jesus said,
"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matthew 6:21
NKJV). Whenever we put our money into something, we develop a vested interest
in it. It makes sense to us that we would place our treasures where our hearts
are. If we love reading books, or being entertained, or the latest technology,
we spend our treasure on those things. And if our heart's desires change, that
changes where we put our treasure.
But it works the other way too: Where we put our treasures,
our heart will follow. Do you want your heart to be in the things of God? Then
put your treasures in the things of God! Develop a vested interest in God's
kingdom.
The second thing we can give to God is our talent. God has
gifted each believer in different ways. Everyone has something to offer for the
work of the kingdom. Romans 12 says, "Just as our bodies have many parts
and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are all
parts of his one body, and each of us different work to do" (NLT).
Finally, there is our time. Let's say that one day your
phone rang and it was the president of the bank that you use. He told you that
an anonymous donor who loved you very much had decided to deposit 86,400
pennies into your bank account each and every morning. At first, maybe that
didn't seem like a lot. But then you figured out that it was $864 a day. At
seven days a week and 52 weeks a year, those pennies add up to almost $315,000
each year! But the bank president added one thing: "The anonymous giver
said you must spend all of the money on the day you receive it! No balance will
be carried over to the next day. Each evening the bank must cancel whatever sum
you failed to use! Remember, what you don't spend is lost."
That may sound like fantasy, but here's the reality: Every
morning, Someone who loves you very much deposits into your "bank of
time" 86,400 seconds, which represent 1,440 minutes, which of course
equals 24 hours each and every day. God gives you that much to use each day.
Nothing is ever carried over on credit to the next day. There is no such thing
as a 27-hour day. It's called time, and you can't escape it. Time is ticking
away right now. The Bible tells us to "redeem the time"—to make
sacred and wise use of every opportunity.
Offer God your treasure, your talent, and your time. Live
this next year as if it were your last, because it could be. Make those minutes
count!
This is a devotion from Greg Laurie that I really loved! A personal blog will be coming soon :)
No comments:
Post a Comment