February 17
The individual whose heart is set on Christ cares little for the things of earth for they are fleeting and they are unsatisfying. Acquiring things, accumulating wealth can be the driving force of a life, but in the final analysis, having them can be equated to taking a big bite of cotton candy–and finding there is nothing in your mouth.
The believer in the Lord wants something more than the trappings of the world that slip like sand through his fingers. If he obtains the ‘good things’ of time, he holds them loosely. He does not count financial gain as his own but sees himself as a steward of God’s wealth and seeks His guidance in how to utilize it.
Proverbs 22:9 says, “A generous man shall himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.” The less fortunate are ever on the heart of God and He is pleased when a man whom He has lavished with temporal treasure uses it to advantage those who have little. God expects the man who loves Him and understands that HE is his Source to give from his surrendered heart, not from compulsion.
We live in an age of governmental ‘redistribution of wealth,’ but this is not the way God would have giving to be accomplished. Generosity is to be up to the individual, not up to those in power who seize wealth from one to give to another. True blessedness is to, as Jesus said in Luke 14:13, 14, “…invite the poor, the crippled, the blind to your feasts and you will be blessed…you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
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