how much?

A friend asked me on Sunday, "when Jesus asks us to give all, what does that mean?" I told them that you still have to take care of your family and that if you give away everything and cannot feed your family, that would be wrong. I guess that is as good as I could do on short notice.

Jesus asked us to do some interesting things. Love him more than our father and mother. Lose it all to find our soul. Go and sell all that you have and give to the poor. take up your cross. go the second mile. Ahh, the painful sayings of Jesus that make it clear that he is not just a nice guy who wants to comfort us, but that he is also the leader, the pioneer in a kingdom that demands our allegiance.

So how much do we give to him? This is a life question and a life journey for each of us. I would suggest that it begins with praying about all of your decisions. Including God in your decisions. Don't just buy a new car because you can. Ask God first. Don't just give such and such to the church because that is what you have always done. Ask God how to give. Don't just spend your time doing such and such because everyone else is doing it. Ask God.

As we begin to do this, the big ship of our lives begins to turn in the direction of giving it all to God, because he is now leading us.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.