2 Kings 4:1-7 reads:
“The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a little oil.”
Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”
She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”
But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”

In this story we see:
● Our choices affect others. As much as that may stink, it is true. The man’s financial choices while alive greatly affected his wife and sons after his death.
● Believing God will provide requires monstrous faith. The widow exhibited faith by her question and her actions. She believed Elisha, the man of God, could help her, and she acted upon his instructions - even though it must have seemed like an act of folly, given the little oil she possessed.
● The size of God’s provision may be directly related to the size of our faith. The oil stopped flowing when she ran out of jars. Elisha warned against collecting only a few jars. God’s provision matched her faith.
● The widow paid her husband’s debt and still had enough to care for her family.

This story clearly communicates that when we demonstrate our faith in our finances, God rewards our obedience.

In a wooden box in my bedroom sits a very tiny, rough edged coin, preserved in a collector’s sleeve. Probably only a third the size of a penny, it caught my attention in a coin store years ago. As I read the label, “Widow’s Mite,” I was reminded of the story in Mark about a widow who gave two of these small coins.

“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.’” (Luke 12:41-44)

The rich people’s offerings probably didn’t require much sacrifice. The widow’s offering was one of great sacrifice. She had two coins and she gave two coins.

The proportion of her giving has always seemed the story’s point; we can definitely learn a lesson in generous giving from this woman. More hidden perhaps is an even harder lesson to learn. This woman was so poor that anything she gave would have been a sacrificial offering, but what did she give? She gave all she had. Those two coins represented her heart, her soul, her mind. She totally trusted God with her present and future.

Jesus reminds us to, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’” (Matthew 22:37-38) He wants us to commit everything we have to Him. Are we ready to give what He asks? Are we willing to use our time in the way He asks? Are we focusing on Him or ourselves? Is there something we are holding back from Him, or is everything His? Jesus desires and delights in total surrender.

None of us wants to be a slave to anyone other than Christ. Yet the Bible says in Proverbs, “the borrower becomes the lender’s slave” (NASB). When we borrow money, the obligation to pay it back puts us in a financial bind, sometimes for years. The rising rates of home foreclosure reveal this truth.

An earlier verse in Proverbs 22 points out one reason we fall prey to this slavery. The temptation to use credit to buy things we want but don’t need may be rooted in spiritual immaturity and an inability to wait on God to provide. Proverbs 22:3 says “the prudent sees the evil and hides himself, but the naive go on and are punished for it.” In a moment of impulse, we don’t see enslavement to bills. We only see the stuff we want, and we naively swipe the credit card or sign the loan.

Doing without or waiting on God to provide takes maturity, humility and trust. Proverbs 22:4 says, “The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor and life.” When we obey God’s financial principles, such as tithing, working hard and avoiding debt, He will reward us with the good things He has for us, and the good things He has for us are always better than what we have for ourselves.

In our materialistic culture, it’s easy to get caught up in a game of “Keeping Up With the Joneses.” Constantly desiring to have the latest and greatest can be all-consuming. It seems harmless on the surface, but if we dig deeper, greed and misplaced identity are the root of the game. We think we must have a bigger house or three cars to be happy, when in all these items are affording us is more debt. We leave the lights on or keep the air-conditioning extremely low because we value momentary comfort. The electricity bill that follows is anything but comfortable. Suddenly we’re forced to choose which bill to pay this month. We are living beyond our means, even paycheck to paycheck, using our resources faster than they can be replenished.

Jesus said the most important thing we can do in life is love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. When we love God above everything, all else takes a back seat. No material possession can define us because we get our identity in Him rather than in the things we own. Greed has no power over us because in Christ we died to all the acts of the sinful nature. It doesn’t matter if we have much or little, because obedience to God brings contentment in all circumstances.

James tells us that faith without works is useless. If we we believe in Jesus and His resurrection power, but do not demonstrate that belief in our daily lives, we are liars. Even Abraham, the great hero of faith, showed his belief by his willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac. Likewise, we must be people of integrity. Our words and actions must communicate the same thing. Radical faith requires radical obedience, and it must extend to every area of our lives, even the way we handle material possessions.

I am continually learning (and re-learning) this truth: Doing what’s best often means doing what is most difficult. Sometimes life offers up a delectable buffet of easy options - maybe even good options. But easy and good don’t usually cut it when we desire God’s best.

Take exercise, for instance. I think we can all agree that it is one of the best things we can do to keep our bodies healthy. It’s the best option, but sitting on the sofa eating ice cream is easier (I’m not hatin’ on ice cream or sofas, but you get my point).

Accumulating “stuff” can also fall into this category. It’s really pretty easy to buy “stuff.” We don’t even have to be able to pay for it. Commercial America is often perfectly happy to allow us to borrow against God’s future blessings. Probably not the best option - even when it is the easiest and most immediately gratifying.

Paul - in his letters to Timothy and Titus - reminds his younger charges that leaders in the Church are called to self-control and discipline. In all areas of our lives. Including our money and our “stuff.”  When we invite the Holy Spirit into every nook and cranny of our lives, He will equip us to choose what is best and difficult, over what is good and easy. He wants us to honor Him with our finances, and He will enable us to make the hard choices. Even when it means saying “No” or “Not now…” to the newest thing that I just have to have. Because His best is always worth it!

Friends are gifts from God. You’ve read it on a zillion bookmarks. And God wants us to be good stewards of all His gifts.

To be a good steward of anything we have to put selfishness aside. It’s so easy to be self-centered with work or plans. We assume our friendships will be the same when we get around to making time for them.

Ezekiel says, “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost.”

From time to time, we all get wrapped up in our world. We are focused on trials and joys, and we want everyone else to be wrapped up in them as well. However, we are not called to be just sheep in God’s flock, but shepherds. God wants us to take care of each other in times of sickness, build up in times of weakness, to share in each others’ joy and to find the sheep who have strayed or are lost.

Today, ask yourself how you can be a better steward — or shepherd — of the flock. Has God put someone in your life who needs to hear your testimony or needs a firm but gentle friend to steer them back on track? Is there someone who needs your encouragement or just a little more time with you? Whom do you need to thank for being there for you? Ask God to show you who needs your care and you will find His gifts — and his flock — will multiply.

Matthew 6:19-21 says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

We all have things in this life that we treasure. There is a direct correlation between where and how we spend our money and what we treasure. Jesus tells us in this passage that wherever our treasure is, there our hearts will be also. It is a little difficult to think that when we open our wallets we are revealing the condition of our heart.

Jesus tells us to store up our treasures in heaven. In order to store our treasures in heaven we have to be willing to spend our money on things that matter. Every time that we spend money we are saying that what we are purchasing has some value to us. Where is your heart and your treasure? Is it in football on Saturdays in the fall, Starbucks in the morning or is it in Heaven. It is not wrong at all to go to football games or to drink expensive coffee unless your checkbook reveals that those things are more important to you than Jesus. Does your checkbook reveal that Heaven and the things of God are truly important to you?

When faced with tough decisions about careers, relationships, finances or whatever, we sometimes struggle to fully place our trust in Jesus. Our trust level is proportional to our understanding of who God is. When we have a low opinion of Jesus and view Him as weak and impotent, our trust in Him will be minimal. When we view Jesus as sovereign, powerful, omniscient and immutable, our trust in Him will be high.

Our lack of trust in Jesus affects our walk with Him. People who lack trust walk in fear. Their decision making is crippled. Their ability to take steps of faith is drastically diminished. The person who fails to trust that God is in control is fooled into believing they are in control. This lack of trust causes a “be careful” attitude about everything.

Jesus did not call us to be careful. He called us to lay down our life for Him. Life is not about guarding our stuff and our decisions. It’s about surrendering it all to Jesus. He promises us that a life lived trusting Jesus will be one of risk and reward. When we trust Jesus, the Creator and Sustainer of heaven and earth, our lives will be fuller and richer than we ever thought possible.

Going to Kenya gave me a new perspective on “stuff.” I met people who live in conditions unimaginable in 21st century America. Still, I’ve never encountered a more generous people in all of my life. Their joy, hospitality and generosity shook me to the core. I didn’t come back to America angry at our wealth. I came back challenged to be radically generous with all that God has entrusted to me.

The prayer in Proverbs 3 acknowledges two fundamental truths: 
1) God is the provider of everything we have; 
2) We are inclined to mishandle poverty and riches alike.

Poverty requires big faith to trust God to meet our physical needs. Wealth requires big humility to acknowledge that God has entrusted us with His resources.

We can have too much and believe we earned it; that’s an age-old temptation. Big humility and even bigger gratitude to God dictates that we give generously. He who has much doesn’t have too much, and he who has little doesn’t have too little. When this works as it should, “...there should be no poor among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you.”

We are entrusted with God’s resources. Can He trust us to steward them with radical generosity?

We are brought up believing that having more stuff is the ultimate American dream. Our economy highlights the fragile nature of that dream. We are a nation possessed by our possessions. Striving to be bigger, faster, stronger, richer and better looking is the status quo. Scripture gives us a much different picture of what God wants for His children.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3-10)

The blessed life is not about accumulating more stuff, getting the right look, being with the right crowd, having the right position, landing the right job or getting rich. The blessed life can be attained by people of any income level, status, training, nationality, gender or race. The blessed life is about our heart condition. When Jesus changes our hearts, we have the capacity for so much more than we could ever want or imagine.