Session 11

What are you invested in?

From 1 Timothy: An 11-Day Devotional

The church building was small, hardly what we might consider structurally sound. Light shone through cracks in the logs of the wall. There was no floor but the dusty ground. Kenyan church members filled the rows of rickety wooden benches and service began.

Unlike the visiting missionaries, the villagers didn’t take a bus to get there. They left early that morning and walked for miles to reach the church. They poured their hearts out to God singing songs. And when it came time to give the offering, people without shoes, electricity or running water walked forward and placed money in a woven basket.

In 1 Timothy 6:17-19, Paul commands those who are rich not “to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” Instead they are to “do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”

It’s easy to dismiss verses directed to the wealthy when we see people around us with so much more. But Americans are among the wealthiest people in the world. It only takes $34,000 a year, after taxes, to be among the richest 1 percent in the world. And as of 2005, about half of the richest 1 percent lived right here in the United States, according to CNN Money.  

God asks us to give from what He has given us. We are to be generous with our time, our actions and our money. We have the ability to use what God has given us to bless others and point them to Jesus. And that is an investment that will always yield a return.

Reflect:

• Are you being generous with your time? Your money? Your talents?
• If there is an area where you are not giving generously, what is a step you can take this week to begin living generously?
• How has the generosity of someone else changed your life? What’s one way you can show appreciation for that person today?