Fools & Wallets

Did you ever hear the old saying "a fool and his money is soon parted"?  I have no idea where it came from, but I do know it applies to me much more often than I would like.  Some of us didn't quite grow up yet....we have a hard time learning not to spend it like we have it.  That's how I grew up...not because of a lack of wisdom passed on from the parents, but rather because of bullheadedness on my own part.  Some folks just have to graduate from the school of hard knocks at times in their lives.

A few days back, at church, a couple of things said during the message reinforced what I have come (at this late stage of life) to understand and appreciate:

1. "The way we view God determines how we do life",
2. and "all you think you own, you owe".

How does this tie in with fools and wallets you ask?  First for the fools;  the fools focus is on himself first and foremost, and then God, when it's convenient.  And, that said, the fool won't recognize that all that he has (that he thinks he owns) he owes to God.  Without God, he wouldn't have it.  Now for the wallets:  If we view God as the giver of all (yes, He didn't hand you money and stuff, but He did give you the ability to achieve it), then we will share a reasonable portion of that (our wallets) for Kingdom work).  And, we will do so with joy because we know that that which we own, we owe to Him.  Pretty simple.  Of course, scrooges won't understand that will they?

Scrooges might think that the Christian man who opens his wallet to return a share of whatever he has for Kingdom work is a fool.  He just might utter that old saying in fact. 

Let me share something personal here.  I went for a looooong time giving out of a sense of obligation and guilt.  And I was stingy about it.  And, I never felt blessed about it.  And, I couldn't stand myself for it.  When I started to cross that bridge, it was a leap of pure, blind faith.  And with that came a huge sense of relief and inner calm, because somehow I started to feel that what I was giving wasn't mine to begin with....I was simply being allowed to hold onto it for a while and make choices about what to do with it.  And I knew that I was then making good choices.

It kind of makes me think that the scrooges are the fools, even with their fatter wallets.


thanks Gordon