Welcome to "Tuesday Morning"—always a good read and loaded with encouragement and hope for Christians everywhere.

 

My computer has been inundated recently with long messages from economists and financial experts about the sad state of the American economy and how wise investors can avoid major losses in their investment portfolios by following their advice. Where did they get my name? I am not rich. I don't subscribe to anybody's financial reports. But I keep getting them. And not one of these newsletters has said a word about the biblical remedy for a fractured financial portfolio. Actually, it's pretty simple. Dave Ramsey endorses it. In fact, the over-riding principle of protecting one's treasure can be expressed in a two-word theme:

 

"PRACTICE GENEROSITY."  

 

What's the biblical foundation for this principle? Matthew 6:19, 20. Read it for yourself in any translation you choose. They all teach the same truth. The admonition begins with these words:

 

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal...."

 

The theme for this week's epistle is, "Give It Away." This is not a letter of solicitation. It is an essay about generosity. Where did I get the title? I borrowed it from a southern gospel song with the same title. Here is the refrain of the 2006 number made popular by the Gaither Vocal Band:

 

If you want more happy than your heart will hold,

If you want to stand taller if the truth were told,

Take whatever you have, and give it away.

If you want less lonely and lot more fun,

Indeed satisfaction when the day is done,

Throw your heart wide open, and give it away."

 

If those words have elevated your curiosity, continue reading below. Then prepare to discover ways to store up treasures in heaven in the weeks ahead. You will be glad you did.

 

Tom Barnard

A Senior Encourager

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Give It Away

Tom Barnard

 

ave you ever been to one of those events where candles are distributed to everyone, and then one person lights his candle and reaches out to the person nearest to him and lights his candle? Then everyone is asked to do the same, continuing to light the candle of the person to his left and right. In a matter of minutes, the entire place is aglow with candlelight.

 

The amazing thing is not that a darkened room can be filled with light that begins with one candle. Rather, the amazing thing is that giving away a flame does not diminish the light that remains with the original candle. As long as there is candle wax and a burning wick, the original flame will continue to burn and give light to darkened space.

 

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Was that the end of the story? No. In Matthew 5:14 Jesus said to the disciples, “You are the light of the world.” And he went on to say, “People don’t light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they put it on a lamp-stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house” (v. 15). Jesus concluded, “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (v. 16). 

 

Was this a teaching on personal evangelism? Of course. But there is more to this story. And the hidden truth behind the story is the principle of generosity. Jesus was not teaching about tithing; he was teaching about being generous—giving away a portion of that which we receive. An old Chinese proverb teaches that happiness never decreases by being shared. The Bible is anything but silent about giving and receiving.

 

·        “There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners—therefore to their hurt” (Ecclesiastes 5:13).

·        “Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee” (Deuteronomy 16:17).

·        “Every man according as he purposed in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

·         “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6).

·        “Give, and gifts shall be bestowed on you. Full measure, pressed, shaken down, and running over, shall they pour into your laps; for with the same measure that you use they shall measure to you in return.” (Luke 6:38 Weymouth Translation).

 

The secular world has its own principles of securing one’s wealth, which go something like this:

 

“Without frugality none can be rich, and with it very few would be poor.”

“The way to wealth depends on just two words, industry and frugality.”

“Save, and your wealth will multiply with compound interest.”

“What’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is negotiable.”

 “A penny saved is a penny earned.”

 

Jesus taught a principle unknown to world economists today. It is recorded in Matthew 6:19, 20):

 

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

 

And how can we accomplish this eternal treasure? By being generous to others. By giving a portion of our treasure away. And there’s a bonus reward: People will see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven.