2010 – April 4 – The Difficult Virtue of Sharing

Blogger’s Note: HAPPY EASTER, one and all !!!

Study from God’s Word…1st Samuel 25: 1 – 1st Samuel 27: 7; 1st Chronicles 12: 1 – 7; 1st Samuel 27; 8 – 1st Samuel 29: 22; 1st Samuel 30: 1 - 31 … Passage for Reflection: 1st Samuel 25: 10 - 11 … NIV 10 Nabal answered David's servants, "Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. 11 Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?"

My Journal for Today: As I was led to study today’s lesson from Dr. Smith, my devotional author from The Daily Bible Devotional, I think I would have missed the truth I needed to glean from today’s Old Testament passage if Dr. Smith had not helped me see it. And here it is.

So often in life we get to the place where we think that we OWN something God has placed in our charge. In this case the man, Nabal, got the idea that he owned the water David and his men were asking to share. And, as it was his human nature, Nabal balked at sharing the natural resources with David and his soldiers, men who had been their enemies in the past.

Have you ever been in a place where you had control of something God had put in your trust, perhaps something you had come to “own,” such as your financial resources; and you were given the opportunity to share those resources with others; but you balked, thinking, in your mind, that the money was yours rather than God’s.

Well, I’ve certainly been in that place; and I’m afraid it’s all too easy to get the idea that the money or physical resources are MINE, rather than me being God’s steward for the Lord to dole out to others as HE sees fit. My friend, so much of what we “have” is really not “ours.” It is God’s; and He alone should be the arbiter of how it is used.

Yes, it’s easy to bring a dish to a potluck when I can imagine that I’m going to get something to eat in return; but how easy is it to share what God has given me, i.e., to be God’s steward when I have no expectation of any return … just the knowledge that someone else is going to benefit from God’s generosity through me. It’s hard to let it go, isn’t it?

Today, I need to do an inventory on my heart; because God’s truth, spoken through Jesus, Himself, has bubbled up in my consciousness, when the Lord said [in Matt. 6: 19-21], 19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Oh, I will pray this morning that today’s lesson helps me to remember that what I have, I have from God; and when HE gives me opportunity to share that treasure for those in need, my heart should release what is God’s anyway for His purposes and for His glory.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to see and live that principle that it’s all Yours for You to use as You see fit. Amen