‘For the share of the one who goes down into the battle shall be the same as the share of the one who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike.’
We have an abundance of “stuff” in our home. After 26 years of living in the same house and raising our three children, the accumulation is sometimes overwhelming. I tend towards relieving ourselves of some of this burden and my husband tends toward retaining much of this. (It might be useful some day). Our large walk up attic which provides a place for this stuff doesn’t help.
I try to be mindful of the fact that God is the source of all that we have. I am also aware that I have been blessed to be born into a life with privilege and not a life with hardship and fear. Even though times in my life I have experienced discrimination because of my gender, I have been able to earn for myself an education that gives me the ability to succeed. These blessings and the spiritual gifts that God has bestowed upon me enable me to earn a living for myself and my family. Therefore, all that I have earned has come from God. Therefore, all that I have bought with what I have earned has come from God.
I don’t think this means that God wants me to accumulate a bunch of “stuff”. The decisions we make about how to spend the money we earn is our response to God’s grace and blessings in our lives. As David pointed out the spoils came from the Lord, they are not ours to keep or refuse to share. Our sharingis a response to the abundance in our lives that has come from God. It has been said that if you really want to see if your actions reflect your words, take a look at your calendar and your checkbook. Do your time and your money go toward where you say your values lie? Our calendars and checkbooks are our personal statements of discipleship.
My response to God’s grace and blessings compels me to follow Jesus. Yes, some of the stuff we have accumulated will come in handy some day. But in these recent years we have endeavored to be more intentional with less accumulation and more sharing of the spoils.
Gracious God, we know that the earth is yours and everything in it; the world and all who live in it. Stir up our hearts to share our spoils with everyone and to see how this response spreads your grace throughout the world. Amen
RSS Feed
