Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
From a conversation with Preacher Clark, late 1970’s
“If you don’t waste your money, the Devil will get you to give it to somebody who will [waste it for you].” So said the Preacher, and he was right. Paul said that a godly person will “distribute to the necessity of the saints” (Rom. 12:13). That does not mean that a godly man gives to every person who is in need, or to every begging preacher, or to any political or social cause. Many a person, otherwise prudent in the handling of his own money, is too tender-hearted for his own good and is moved by sympathy to give away money to someone who does not really need it.
When Uncle Joe was a young man in the army, the guys in his barracks somehow found out that he believed in the words of Jesus from the Bible. In it, Jesus told his followers not to refuse a brother if he wanted to borrow anything from them. Uncle Joe’s fellow servicemen then proceeded to find him every payday to “borrow” some dough. Of course, they never paid him back, and they never intended to. They merely were using the Bible to intimidate young Uncle Joe to surrender his hard-earned money. (The Bible is often used for that purpose.)
The truth was that those army buddies of his were not coming to borrow from him; they were not really in need. They were coming to steal his money, but Uncle Joe was not yet sharp enough in the Lord to discern that. Besides, they were not his brothers in the faith; they were just sinners, doing what sinners are supposed to do: lie and steal.
Once you have done what you should do to avoid wasting your money, beware lest you be fooled into giving some of the rest of it to someone who will waste it for you. That is a practical gem of counsel that bears repeating in every successive generation.