Have you seen those Visa Gift Cards you can buy in the check out lines at Wal Mart? They are cards on which you can place any amount of money, and then use like cash to make purchases anywhere Visa is accepted. Now, imagine that the next time you go to Wal Mart you purchase one of those cards and place on it ALL of your net worth. That’s right. Imagine that you were to go to the bank and empty your checking and savings accounts. Then imagine you were to sell every asset you own (property, cars, clothes, technology, etc.) on Craig’s List and eBay. Imagine you were to cash out your entire IRA and college savings plans. Imagine you were to liquidate all of your net worth into cash, then imagine you were to place all that cash into a shopping cart at Wal Mart and push it into the store, walk through the check out line, and hand ALL of that cash to the check out clerk, instructing them to place ALL of it on a single Visa Gift Card. Can you imagine that? I want you to visualize walking out of Wal Mart with a single credit card in your wallet on which your entire net worth rests.
Now, I want to ask you a question:
Who would you trust enough to give that card to?
Your spouse? Your kids? Parents? Friends? Anyone? No one? What would influence your decision? Who would you trust or not trust and why? Seriously . . . I want you to think long and hard about that.
This Sunday at Wildwood, we are going to be concluding our short 2 part series “Pay it Forward.” In this week’s message, I will be sharing some perspective on the role of finances in the life of the Christian, including looking at Jesus interaction with the Rich Young Ruler. After years of reading this passage and rationalizing it away on different levels, I have been challenged by it anew this week. If Jesus asked for “it all” why would I be hesitant to give it to Him? As I wrestled with that notion this week, I felt as though God encouraged me through the analogy I gave above. My thoughts on this may surprise you. My hope, though, is that by looking at God’s Word together, we will all be encouraged to trust Jesus more in our lives, remembering who He is and the way He cares for us. Join us as I share some of what God has been teaching me on this topic this Sunday at Wildwood in either our 9:30 or 10:50 service. Hope to see you there!
A group of us were singing a hymn last night, the chorus of which is, “Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er; Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, O FOR GRACE TO TRUST HIM MORE.” I highlighted the last phrase because I live with, and want to shrink from, the knowledge of how shocking Jesus’ statement was to the rich young man. I think it’s interesting to think about everything I have being put on a credit card. I could pick it up with two fingers, and if I dropped it on the way out of WalMart without noticing, it would all be gone in an instant. Of course, that instant loss could occur in numerous other ways, even without WalMart Visa cards.