Last Thursday, my son Lincoln found a dime somewhere in the house. He was so excited about finding it b/c he is beginning to realize the value of money and that he can buy stuff w/ it. So he kept track of it the whole day but b/c he is a typical 5 year, he set it down on the entertainment center and forgot about it.
Sunday came and I knew he was going to want to put some money in the collection plate when it was time. So on my way out the door, I saw his dime was still sitting where he left it so I grabbed it to give to him.
When we got to the church building, I had to run upstairs to do a few things for classes and Lincoln came w/ me. While were upstairs, I pulled out his dime and told him he could put it in the collection plate, giving it to God.
This is when things got interesting b/c it seemed that Lincoln didn't want to give the dime away b/c it was his dime. Afterall, HE found it right? And that is exactly what he told me. However, w/ no time to explain the theology of giving in a way a 5 year old could understand, I was still able to convince him that he still needed to give it to God and put it in the collection plate. So we left it at that and went downstairs to take our seat in the pew.
Then the moment of truth came. The plates were being passed and Lincoln, reluctantly pulls out his dime and stares at it, then looks at me and then looks at mom, and says w/ his bottom lip sticking out, "I don't want to give it away." Yet, when the plate stopped right in front of Lincoln, he dropped his dime in the plate. Needless to say, Lincoln was not giving happily.
I wonder how many of us are like this? How many times do we either not give or if we do give, we don't have the right attitude. The "it" can be anything; money, time, resources, food, clothes, etc. But b/c we think it belongs to us, we don't give it away or we give with sadness.
Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, "Each one should give as you have decided in your heart to give. You should not be sad when you give, and you should not give b/c you feel forced to give. God loves the person who gives happily" (2 Cor. 9:7, NCV).
When we arrived home, Lincoln came up to me w/ a dollar in his hand. Apparently, later that morning, a man came up to Lincoln and gave it to him. I'm not sure who it was but b/c he knew Lincoln's birthday was the next day, he gave him a dollar. WOW...a whole dollar!! You can imagine how excited Lincoln was to have it.
So I tried to use this opportunity to remind Lincoln about how God blesses us w/ so much more when we give him the little we have. Paul said it better in verse 8, "And God can give you more blessings than you need."
Now, you and I know that it was just a dime.....not worth much. But to Lincoln it was money and he thought it was his. But the reality is, it wasn't ever Lincoln's dime, it was God's. In fact, nothing that we have is ours b/c it all belongs to God and he gives it to us, to use while we live here.
The question then becomes, if everything (i.e. money, time, homes, cars, food, clothes, etc) we have was given to us by God, then how would God expect us to use it?
Paul continues his letter saying, "He will make you rich in every way so that you can always give freely...." (v. 11).
The answer is clear w/ what we are to do w/ the "riches" God has given us; "give freely." This means that if God gives things to us b/c we have a need, we ought to give them away to those who have a need.
Guess what Lincoln found on Monday? You guessed it, another dime. Only this time he was the one who told me he was going to give it to God on Sunday. Lesson learned? Perhaps.
How about us?
BW
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