Notice on a slight format change:

Except for July 2012, these are mostly a collection of current devotional notes.

July 2012 is a re-write of old quiet times. My second child was born Nov 11, 1987 with multiple birth defects. I've been re-reading my QT notes from that time in my life, and have included them here. They cover the time before the birth and the few years immediately after the birth. They are tagged "historical." I added new insights and labeled them: ((TODAY, dd mmm yy)).

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Random Thoughts, 14 May 13, Spend and be spent

This is in response to my Pastor's message on Sunday. It reminded me of something I felt I needed to put down on paper.

Isa 58:10 (NIV) … and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry //  and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, // then your light will rise in the darkness, // and your night will become like the noonday.

2 Cor 12:15 (RSV) I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you the more, am I to be loved the less?

Luke 16:9 (NIV) I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Note: Years ago, God impressed on me the phrase "spend and be spent." It really is a great philosophy of life. It does not preclude wise handling of the money God has entrusted to me for old age and retirement. What it does is free me to spend on others. Yes, I might be "wealthy" if I did not give as much as I have or spent as much as I do on people, but I have more peace because it relieves the tension between frugality and indulgence. Both positions represents extremes which do not honor God. Frugality, while often extolled, communicates that "my" money is more important than people. Indulgence is an obnoxious abuse of the gift God has given. Somewhere between is a point of freedom. I can spend money that is helpful for others, whether that is providing a dinner for young adults who attend our Tuesday night bible study or upgrading the carpeting in our house so that it can stand traffic (people visiting) better. I suppose we can always justify our actions, and that part is difficult to determine, but ultimately I stand before God, and while I might benefit from the spending, if my heart is right, I can have peace. I want to spend and be spent for people. I don't want to end up rich at the end of my life and realize all the opportunities I missed to use money for another person's good. God doesn't give me the funds I have so that I save it all or spend it all on myself. God has given me funds to live on and to use for the kingdom's sake. If that means buying a person breakfast so that we can talk, so be it. If that means replacing something sooner than normal because it is worn out by people using it, so be it. If that means having less left for myself, most certainly so be it. 
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