In John 6 we read a story of Jesus being far from any town teaching about 5,000 people. It was long after mealtime and Jesus asked Philip where they could purchase food for the crowd. He replied that they didn’t have nearly enough money to buy food for all these. Then Andrew spoke up (verse 9) and said, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
This is one of my favorite stories because it shows us what can happen when we give Jesus something to work with, resulting in a miracle. Its an obvious spiritual principle. Jesus needs us to give Him something to work with.
One of the exciting things about Christianity is watching people take their little bit and give it God, and then watch God do a miracle and multiply it. It’s the most convincing argument that seed-faith giving works. As a matter of fact, this principle doesn’t work if you give a lot, but when you give a little bit, and watch what God will do. Then graduate to something bigger.
Oral Roberts used to say, “Receiving follows giving…the harvest follows seed sown.”
Tags: giving, seed, small, stewardship
I heard about a farmer who called the office of a large church asking to see “the Head Hog at the trough”. The receptionist said, “Sir, if you’re talking about our beloved minister, you may call him Reverend or Pastor, but I don’t think it would be proper to refer to him as ‘Head Hog at the trough’.”
“Well, all right,” the farmer said, “I just sold a few sows and was going to donate ten thousand dollars to the building fund, so I was hoping to catch him.”
“Oh, just a minute, Sir,” the receptionist said. “I think the Big Pig just walked in!”
Since many ministers, especially televangelists, are perceived to be always focusing on money, many preachers go to the opposite extreme of not wanting to talk about money at all. I believe this is a mistake. The Bible talks more about money and giving and stewardship than it does about baptism and the resurrection combined. God’s people can’t grow spiritually unless we get understanding of the stewardship principle.
Tags: money, stewardship
Today is Black Friday, known as such because so many people do shopping that it is the first day of the year that merchants go in the black. But, economists are telling us that the average Christmas shopper will spend about $200 less this year than in 2007.
A valuable side effect of this downtown in consumer purchases is that, if these stores don’t sell their stock by Christmas, they’ll be forced to mark those prices way down in January to liquidate their stock. That can be a real blessing to those of us who can delay shopping until then.
One money saving idea would be to buy and wrap an accessory to the real gift (such as a TV stand), and then go shopping together later for the new TV. Of course, we run the risk the TV you want will be all gone by then.
But, remember in this consumer-driven culture, that we are to be good stewards of what the Lord has placed in our care. Making your dollars stretch is good stewardship.
Tags: consumer, stewardship