2 Corinthians 8:7 (NIV) “But just as you excel in everything--in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us--see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” Suppose you have something very important you want to get to someone who really needs it. You wrap it up and hand it over to the UPS guy. What would you think if instead of delivering it, he took it home and kept it? You would be upset and rightly so. You would say, “The package doesn’t belong to him! He’s just the middle man. His job is to get the package from me and get it to the person it was intended for!” Think about it, we are the ones in the middle.
1. Money in Our Hands. Just because God puts money in our hands, it doesn’t mean He intends for it to stay there. A good question…Why does God give some of His children more than they need and others less than they need? So that He can use His children to help one another. He does not want us to have too much or too little. When those who have too much give to those with too little, two problems are solved. When they don’t, two problems are perpetuated.
2. Five Minutes After I Die. We often talk about how sinners will not have the opportunity to go back and make changes in their lives that would change everything, but hear me today, neither will Christians. We have only one lifetime to live. Missionary C.T. Studd – “Only one life, twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.” Ask yourself, five minutes after I die, what will I wish I would have given away while I still had the chance? When you come up with your answer, why not start giving it away now.
3. Giving is a Spiritual Gift. Romans 12 tells us we all have different gifts and we usually emphasis all of them but one…giving. Sadly, in our Western culture, probably the gift that is thought about the least is the gift of giving. We are all called to serve, to show mercy, and to give even if we do not think we have those particular gifts. Alcorn – Suppose God wanted to fulfill His plan of world evangelism and help an unprecedented number of suffering people. What gift would you expect Him to distribute widely? Why not the gift of giving? And what might you expect Him to provide for those to whom He’s given that gift? Perhaps unprecedented wealth to meet those needs and further His Kingdom. Look around. Isn’t that exactly what He has done? The question is, what are we doing with the wealth He’s entrusted to us?
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