Giving What You Have

I don't have a billion dollars, because I didn't win the big Mega Millions lottery this week.  I'm sure it didn't help that I didn't buy a ticket.

I'm not saying that because I consider myself morally superior, but because I can do math. If ever there was a bad investment, buying a lottery ticket would qualify.

I saw a meme this week that compared the odds of winning the lottery to being killed by a lightning strike, or being hit by a tornado, and various other unlikely events. Let's just say you have a much better chance of being struck by lightning--multiple times--than you did of winning a billion dollars in the lottery. 

I did find it interesting to read several social network "friends" mentioning what they would do with the money if their lotto numbers were called. One said he would build his church a new sanctuary. Another fellow Blazer fan promised that UAB would finally get its long-awaited on-campus football stadium if his number came up. Yet another suggested that he would help his mom buy a new house and get out from under her financial woes.

It reminded me of a story I heard a while back about a Sunday School teacher who asked the children in her class if they would give a million dollars to the missionaries. "Yes!" they all screamed. "Would you give a thousand dollars?" Again, they shouted "Yes!" "How about a hundred dollars?" "YES, we would!" they all agreed.

"Would you give a dollar to the missionaries?" she asked. The 6-year old boys all exclaimed "Yes!" again, except for one little boy. "Eric," the teacher said, as she noticed the boy clutching his pocket, "Why didn't you say 'Yes' this time?"

"Well," he stammered. "I HAVE a dollar."

It's one thing to talk about what you would give if you had it--when you don't--but it's another thing altogether to actually give what you have. The reality is, that's all God wants from us--to give Him our time, our money, and our talents, from a willing heart. Like the little boy who gave Jesus his lunch, when we release what we have to Him, He uses it and blesses it, and blesses us in the process.

You don't have to win the lottery to have something to offer the Lord. And you don't have to have a million dollars to support the missionaries. But you can give what you do have, and better yet, you can give of yourself. That's better than blowing two bucks on a lottery ticket, and the dividends on your investment will bring a return for eternity.