1 Timothy 6:17-21
"Tell those rich in this world's wealth.....Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share."
Last week we saw how rich we are. We don't think of ourselves as rich, Bill Gates is rich. But wealth is a matter of perspective. When Pastor Catherine was here from Kenya she was driven around Grapevine to see the areas of poverty in which we are working. She said, "I don't see any poor people." Because of her Kenyan perspective, there are no poor people in Grapevine. My perspective is that I am not rich because I can drive a mile from my house and be in a neighborhood of $1,000,000+ homes, I could never live in that neighborhood. I am too poor.
Yet, what we saw last week was that even the average American income of $50,000 puts us in the top 1% of income earners in the world. That needs to become my perspective. Being in the top 1% of the world means that I am rich.
Whenever the Bible talks about the "rich", it is talking about me. In 1 Timothy, the words of instruction are for me "to be in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share." Those are words directly to me.
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Last week, I too, learned how rich I am (thanks to my parents' hard work). I have been blessed. To me, this passage wasn't saying that the only way I could spread good was by giving away money, we must be rich in our deeds and actions as well. A rich man has the luxury of not having to work for everything, they can take a day off and still live comfortably, it isn't a day to day struggle.
ReplyDeleteYesterday, I passed a homeless man in Dallas, not an unusual sight. What was unusual was the number of people who offered something of theirs to him. I must have seen two or three cars do this-not an extraordinary number, but still impressive I thought. What did they give him, $1? Maybe $5? To me, they are both nominal amounts- a coffee or a snack, to someone else it could be a meal, water, a blanket. I think God was showing me what I need to do - I am rich, and I must be generous and willing to share.