Money from Jesus

I remember when our oldest son, Drew,  graduated from the nursery to the two-year-old Sunday School class.  No more toddling around with the babies, crying and grabbing cookies from the other kids.  Now it was time to move to a room with a table, where he would sit in a chair, sing songs,  listen to a lesson and color.  He was finally learning about God, Jesus, the Bible!  I could hardly wait to pick him up and see what he thought of his new class.

As I had hoped, he had fun.  He was in a familiar place with familiar people, so the transition was easy.  I asked him about his "story" and he seemed to be excited.  Sunday School was going to be a good experience.  As he jabbered about it (after all, he was two), he showed me something that he had gotten that morning:  a quarter!  Confused, I asked him to explain where the quarter came from.  "Money from Jesus", he explained.  Money from Jesus?  He went on to tell me about the basket they passed around that had money in it.  "Money from Jesus!"

I was mortified!  It had never dawned on me when I was telling him about his new class that they would be passing an offering basket.  My sweet, innocent two-year-old had thought the basket was for him to take money from it!  When he went back the next week, he had the quarter he had taken, plus his own "money FOR Jesus"!

Unfortunately, my then two-year-old's misunderstanding becomes the mind frame of many Christians.  Many of us continue to live year after year looking for what God can give to us, rather than what we can give to God.  We, too, fail to understand that Christianity isn't about what God can do for us, it is about what He has called us to do for Him.

What delight there is in giving to God, to giving ourselves to Him!  To fully realize the joy that overflows when we are seeking what we can do for Him, rather than focusing on what He can do for us!  The psalmist said:  Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4).  

What are you seeking?  Could you really be satisfied with anything less than the outpouring of the blessing and favor that comes from seeking HIM?  As Matthew 6:31-33 says in The Message Bible:  What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.