“I have felt tender breathings in my soul after God…and strong desires have attended me that his family, who are acquainted with the moving of the Holy Spirit, may be so redeemed from the love of money and from that spirit in which men seek honor one of another, that in all business, by sea or land, they may constantly keep in view the coming of His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.”  John Woolman

“While individual effort is good, it is always limited.  There are things we can do together that we cannot possibly do alone.  God has so arranged human life that we are dependent upon one another to come into all that he desires of us.  We need each other’s help in order to know how to love God.  We need each other’s help in order to know how to love our neighbor…

In the twelfth chapter of Romans, Paul sets forth a lovely picture of a community of people living in simplicity.  Placed in the context of teaching on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, this passage provides a profoundly practical understanding of how we are to live. 

We are to give freely to the needs of the saints and to practice ordinary hospitality.

We are to enter into the needs of one another, rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep.

We are to deal with class and status distinction to the extent that we can freely be among the lowly.

We are to surrender the need to have our own way, and instead concern ourselves with what will build the fellowship.

We are to live in peace and harmony, never avenging ourselves, always trusting in God.

What an inviting paradigm of simplicity by which to conjugate our lives!”

Freedom of Simplicity, pgs. 174 -175

Spring is busy.  I’ve been wanting to get to some of the more practical aspects of all this, but alas I am still hanging out in the “why?” part.  Here is some more eternal perspective from Randy Alcorn:

“‘To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.’ (Deut. 10:14)

‘Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.  Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.  Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things.’ (1 Chron 29:11-12)

‘Who has a claim against me that I must pay?  Everything under heaven belongs to me’ (Job 41:11).

‘For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.  I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.  If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it’ (Psalm 50:10-12).

‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty’ (Haggai 2:8).

‘You are not your own; you were bought at a price’ (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

How we handle money and possessions demonstrates who we really believe is their owner – God or us.

If we really believe he is the owner of all that has been entrusted to us, shouldn’t we regularly be asking him,

‘What do you want me to do with Your money and possessions?’

And shouldn’t we be open to the possibility that he may want us to share large portions of his assets with those whose needs are greater than ours?

Suppose you have something important you want to get to someone who needs it.  You wrap it up and hand it over to the FedEx delivery person.  What would you think if, instead of delivering the package, the driver took it home, opened it, and kept it?

When you confront him he says, ‘If you didn’t want me to keep it, why’d you give it to me in the first place?’

You’d say, ‘You don’t get it.  The package doesn’t belong to you.  You’re just the middleman.  Your job is to get the package from me and deliver it to those I want to have it.’

Likewise, just because God puts money in our hands doesn’t mean he intends for us to keep it!”

Money, Possessions and Eternity pgs. 148-152, 155, 206, 212

Okay, stick with me!  Remember, we’re staying in a motivation of love.  But one way we love the King is to remember that He entrusts us with work of the Kingdom.  Think of all the exhilaration and joy we miss out on when we believe this life, “our” money, and the main purpose is about us.

One of the most loving things He does for us is pry open our eyes to His work.  It keeps us from wasting our lives and gives us transcendent purpose. 

He really is worth everything.