WE are ENTRUSTED TO GIVE

Two brothers walked across the young earth, each carrying an offering for God. Cain, a farmer, brought some produce while Abel, a shepherd, brought the choicest animals from his herd. Together they presented their offerings. The Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering, but not with Cain and his offering (Genesis 4:2-5, NIV). God looked into their hearts and judged their offerings accordingly.

In Cain, God saw a man who considered himself owner of his crops. Cain took what he needed, but always gave the best first to God. We can describe Cain’s attitude and his offering as a "careless, thoughtless offering." In Abel, however, God saw a man with the heart of a steward or good manager of what was entrusted to him. Abel considered God the owner of his herd, so he gave back to God what was rightfully His. This attitude... that God is the owner of all we have... pleased God in the beginning and continues to please Him today.

Wealth and honor come from God, according to 1 Chronicles 29:12, and He rules over all things. In His hands are strength and power to exalt. We must master this truth and know that we are only managers of the money and possessions God has entrusted to us. As such, we must use them for His glory and to further His Kingdom.

In a society heavily laden with shopping channels, outlet malls and mega malls, changing our thinking about material possessions will require more than a little effort. We alone can't change ourselves, but God will gladly change us as we renew our minds by meditating on His Word. Consider spending serious time, maybe the next 30 days, meditating on 1 Chronicles 29:11,12 to develop the proper attitude towards financial faithfulness. Begin to think of what you have and possess as "the Lord's" instead of "my" or "mine" and acknowledging God's ownership of what you acquire each time you make a purchase. This personal practice will begin to transform your mind as the responsibility we all have towards the material possessions we have.

As stewards we have a manual, the Bible, that contains principles for giving, saving and spending. How believers are to view and use their material possessions is a pervasive theme throughout the Word of God. It contains more than 2,350 verses on handling money, for God is concerned with even the smallest details of our personal finances.

As in the case of the servants entrusted with wealth while their master was away (Matthew 25:14-30), our Master, too, will return to question us as to how we have used His possessions. If we are diligent and reliable in using the treasures (whether many or few) God has entrusted to us, our Master will say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

As we think like faithful servants of the Master, our behavior changes. We look for ways to use our car or house or money to bring glory to God. If we know that the car we drive belongs to God, we use it generously to help friends and neighbors who need a ride. If we know that the house we live in belongs to God, we cheerfully open it to others who need a place to stay, or to host visiting missionaries. If we know that the money we have belongs to God, we use it to expand His kingdom because He desires that all men come to know Him.

This desire is God's priority and should be ours as well. While our personal funds might not be enough to tell the world about Christ, if we join others in giving to our churches missions fund, we can help tell many. Currently, Christians give just 2 percent of their income to Christian causes. And less than a tenth of a percent goes specifically to foreign missions. Not a ringing endorsement that we have gotten the message God wants us to understand.

God's Word teaches generous and sacrificial giving. "The early Christians did not limit themselves to the tithe: Acknowledging God's ownership of all their possessions, they gave with an abandonment produced by love. Those first believers must serve as examples for us today in their rich generosity despite extreme hardship and poverty. The tithe should serve as a starting point for giving. In our heart we must determine how generously and sacrificially we will give.

In Matthew 25:45, Jesus taught specifically about giving to the poor: "I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me" (NIV).

Jesus identifies with the poor, can we really do less? When we share with the poor, we are actually sharing with Jesus Himself. And if that truth is staggering for you, then the reciprocal has to be terrifying... when we do not give to the poor, we leave Christ Himself hungry and thirsty. No one really wants to be in such a desperate situation with the Living God.

The trick, and it’s a hard one, is not to hold on too tightly to earthly things. Jesus said, "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" (Matthew 6:19-21, NIV). Our cheerful generosity as we share with others leads to personal treasures in heaven.

But to give so that someone else can have more means that we might have less. And that can be scary. Giving requires faith that God will provide for our needs. For example, when difficult times hit you and your family, make it a point to keep your giving commitments despite periods of low or interrupted income. God is faithful, and with selfless giving you demonstrate complete faith that God will provide for your family. You may not be living in the lap of luxury, but God will be faithful in providing exactly what we need and when we need it.

As we faithfully give of our worldly treasures, acknowledging in our hearts that they belong to God, we are obedient and faithful stewards. And to God, obedience shows we love Him. Such faithfulness brings blessing, for God will use us to provide for someone else in need, just as He might use another to meet our need. And through it all, the kingdom of God advances.

Give to the Kingdom what is already His and do it with Passion, so that we may Not Hinder God’s Work in the world today!

SACRIFICE for GOD is NEVER in VAIN

In 1904, William Whiting Borden, then heir to the famous Borden dairy fortune, graduated from high school in Chicago Illinois. As a graduation gift, his parents sent him on a cruise around the world. While on this cruise, God began to open William's eyes and heart to the masses of unsaved people around the world. William wrote to his mother about his desire to be a missionary. In one of his early letters he wrote, “I think God is calling me to be a missionary.” In his final letter he wrote, “I know God is calling me to be a missionary.” One friend expressed amazement that William was throwing his life away by choosing to become a missionary.

When he returned home, William enrolled in Yale University, where he was instrumental in starting campus prayer and Bible study groups and evangelism initiatives. He also worked with the least of these on the streets of New Haven and founded Yale Hope Mission. Henry Wright, a professor at Yale, said, “It is my firm conviction that the Yale Hope Mission has done more to convince all classes of men at Yale of the power and practicability of Christianity to regenerate individuals and communities than any other force in the University.” While in school, William renounced his fortune in favor of missions and wrote two words in the flyleaf of his Bible - No Reserves. William wanted to live by faith and trust God for everything in his life.

William attended a Student Volunteer Movement conference in Nashville, where he learned about the great number of Muslims in China. He felt God wanted him to go to China, where he hoped to work with Muslims. When he graduated from Yale, he had many lucrative job offers, including the opportunity to take over the multi-million dollar family business. However, he was determined to fulfill God's call to serve as a missionary. Once again, he opened his Bible to the flyleaf and wrote two more words - No Retreats.

In the fall of 1909 he was twenty-one years old and a seminarian at Princeton Seminary. By 1912, William Borden was twenty-five years old. He had completed a trip around the world, earned his B.A. at Yale, and his M.A. at Princeton Seminary. It was time to leave his family fortune behind and pursue his calling to minister to the Muslims in China.

William set sail for China on Dec. 17, 1912. Part of his plan included a stop-over in Egypt to study Arabic so he would be better equipped to work with Muslims. While in Egypt, William contracted spinal meningitis and died on April 9, 1913, at the age of 25. Years of training, a promising future, and William never made it to China. Charlie Campbell, one of William's closest friends from college, received his Bible after his death. When he opened it, he found what William had written in the flyleaf. In addition to the words No Reserves and No Retreats that William had jotted down during his college days, he found two more words that William had written just before he died - No Regrets.

Although William Borden never made it to the mission field in China, he touched hundreds of students at Yale University and Princeton Seminary who when on to become missionaries. Because of his families wealth and noteriety, the news of his death was published all over the world and many people wrote letters to his family expressing how their lives had been influenced by William's story of faith and commitment to the cause of Christ. His story continues to inspire selfless service for the cause of Christ.

Some will say William Borden’s life was wasted, futile, accomplishing nothing more than death at a young age. Borden, an heir to great wealth, rejected a life of ease in order to bring the gospel to Muslims both in Egypt and eventually in China. He refused even to buy himself a car during his college and seminary years, and gave away hundreds of thousands of dollars to the work of missions. He understood what many of us seem slow to comprehend... as 2 Corinthians 4:18 admonishes us.... "We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen; For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

William’s life did not leave lives untouched. Even though he never made it to China, by God’s grace, he was given a burden for missions which led him to study at Yale and in turn his passion inspired hundreds of students to take up the call of missions. Numerous memorials were held all over the world after his death, all packed with people who heard the inspired story of his short life. Even in death, William Borden sowed the seeds of the gospel... that others would cultivate and harvest. In God’s plan no one is ever wasted. In Isaiah 55:8 we are told, “for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.”

Even today,nearly 100 years after his untimely death, William Borden continues to inspire those who seek to serve in the mission field. As believers may we truthfully confess with William Borden, No Reserves... No Retreats... and No Regrets.

"Do not put out the Spirit's fire." -- 1 Thessalonians 5:19